Microbial Contamination of Donor Eyes

The culture results of 4,167 donor eyes received over a two-year period are evaluated. Irrigation of the cornea and conjunctiva with 20 mL of sterile saline prior to enucleation decreased the incidence of bacterial contamination to 12.4%. The major contaminant is Staphylococcus epidermidis (66.4%). The incidence of endophthalmitis in the 1,880 corneal transplants performed during this time was 0.1%. The significance of irrigation and antibiotic use in processing donor corneas is discussed