Increasing Povidone-Iodine Exposure in Endothelial Keratoplasty Tissue Processing and Fungal Infection Impact.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect on donor rim cultures and postoperative infections of doubling the povidone-iodine exposure time during corneal tissue recovery before its use in keratoplasty.

METHODS

Consecutive donor cornea recoveries were evaluated for positive donor corneal rim cultures and postoperative infections before and after a protocol change of doubling the exposure time of povidone-iodine during donor preparation.

RESULTS

In 631 consecutive cornea donor recoveries, 18 (2.9%) had positive fungal rim cultures and 41 (6.5%) had positive bacterial rim cultures. Three (0.48%) developed postoperative fungal infections, and no bacterial infections occurred. After doubling the povidone-iodine exposure time during the recovery process, 725 consecutive corneas were reviewed. Four (0.6%) had positive fungal rim cultures, and 29 (4.0%) had positive bacterial rim cultures. No postoperative fungal or bacterial infections occurred. No noticeable increase in epithelial toxicity developed between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing the povidone-iodine exposure time during the donor cornea recovery process decreased the rate of positive donor corneal rim fungal cultures (P = 0.001), positive donor corneal rim bacterial cultures (P = 0.04), and postoperative fungal infections (P = 0.06).