A simple ex vivo model for teaching Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty

Konstantinos Droutsas; Michael Petrak; Gerrit R J Melles; Chryssanthi Koutsandrea; Ilias Georgalas; Walter Sekundo

doi:10.1111/aos.12371

A simple ex vivo model for teaching Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty

Acta Ophthalmol. 2014 Aug;92(5):e362-5. doi: 10.1111/aos.12371. Epub 2014 Apr 13.

Authors

Konstantinos Droutsas¹, Michael Petrak, Gerrit R J Melles, Chryssanthi Koutsandrea, Ilias Georgalas, Walter Sekundo

Affiliation

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany; First Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School of Athens, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; The Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

PMID: 24725378
DOI: 10.1111/aos.12371

Abstract

Purpose: To describe a simple ex vivo porcine model for teaching Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK).

Methods: Twenty freshly enucleated porcine eyes were used to create a pseudo-graft from the porcine lens capsule and implant it into an intact porcine globe using the standardized 'no-touch' technique of the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (NIIOS).

Results: The DMEK pseudo-graft could be inserted, centred, unfolded and appositioned in all cases.

Conclusions: Practicing DMEK surgery under wetlab conditions was feasible by the described simple and low-cost model. This new tool may facilitate the adaptation of DMEK by cornea surgeons.

Keywords: Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty; endothelial keratoplasty; wetlab model; ‘no touch’ standardized technique.

MeSH terms

Animals
Clinical Competence
Descemet Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty / education*
Education, Medical, Graduate / methods*
Humans
Internship and Residency*
Models, Animal*
Ophthalmology / education*
Swine
Teaching / methods*