{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T02:29:03Z","timestamp":1760149743720,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,22]],"date-time":"2023-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692662400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: We sought to evaluate the clinical outcomes of hemi-UT-DSAEK grafts from the pediatric donor corneas of patients affected by Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD). Methods: A prospective, interventional case series was conducted at the Ophthalmology Department of Venice Civil Hospital and the Veneto Eye Bank Foundation (Venice, Italy). Six eyes of six patients affected by FECD received large-diameter, semicircular hemi-UT-DSAEK grafts obtained from three pediatric donor corneas using the standard pull-through method. Endothelial cell density (ECD), central corneal thickness (CCT), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded at different time intervals up to 12 months. Results: The average donor age was 64.6 \u00b1 8.6 years, and the pre-operative ECD was 3266 \u00b1 225 cells\/mm2. At 12 months postoperatively, the average ECD was 1376 \u00b1 509 cells\/mm2 with a mean decrease of 56.8 \u00b1 19.1% from the preoperative donor count. At 12 months, four out of six eyes had significantly improved and reached a BCVA of \u226520\/25 (Snellen equivalent). The mean CCT significantly decreased from 788 \u00b1 138 \u03bcm before surgery to 576 \u00b1 30 \u03bcm at 12 months postoperatively (p &lt; 0.01). Conclusions: Hemi-UT-DSAEK grafts using pediatric donor corneas are surgically feasible and can provide similar clinical outcomes compared to conventional UT-DSAEK. Transplanting pediatric donor tissues with high ECD into two patients could potentially increase the donor tissue pool to treat endothelial disease.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm12175442","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,22]],"date-time":"2023-08-22T09:10:56Z","timestamp":1692695456000},"page":"5442","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Hemi-Ultrathin Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (Hemi-UT-DSAEK) Using Pediatric Donor Corneas: A Case Series"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Pia","family":"Leon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, SS Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, 30122 Venice, Italy"},{"name":"International Center for Ocular Physiopathology, Fondazione Banca degli Occhi del Veneto Onlus, Zelarino, 30174 Venice, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lorena","family":"Francescutti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, SS Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, 30122 Venice, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5485-5237","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pietro","family":"Gentile","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, SS Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, 30122 Venice, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Federica","family":"Birattari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Center for Ocular Physiopathology, Fondazione Banca degli Occhi del Veneto Onlus, Zelarino, 30174 Venice, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Diego","family":"Ponzin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Center for Ocular Physiopathology, Fondazione Banca degli Occhi del Veneto Onlus, Zelarino, 30174 Venice, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Camposampiero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Center for Ocular Physiopathology, Fondazione Banca degli Occhi del Veneto Onlus, Zelarino, 30174 Venice, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonella","family":"Franch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, SS Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, 30122 Venice, Italy"},{"name":"International Center for Ocular Physiopathology, Fondazione Banca degli Occhi del Veneto Onlus, Zelarino, 30174 Venice, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5186-068X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohit","family":"Parekh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Schepens Eye Research Institute, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"756","DOI":"10.1111\/aos.14126","article-title":"Trial-Based Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Ultrathin Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (UT-DSAEK) versus DSAEK","volume":"97","author":"Simons","year":"2019","journal-title":"Acta Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1186","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2012.11.030","article-title":"Ultrathin Descemet\u2019s Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty with the Microkeratome Double-Pass Technique: Two-Year Outcomes","volume":"120","author":"Busin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"CD012097","article-title":"Descemet\u2019s Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) versus Descemet\u2019s Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSAEK) for Corneal Endothelial Failure","volume":"6","author":"Stuart","year":"2018","journal-title":"Cochrane Database Syst. 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