Publications
30 Years of Excellence and Worldwide Collaboration
For more than three decades, the Cornea Image Analysis Reading Center has been a leading force in advancing corneal endothelial research worldwide. As a reading center led by its Medical Director, Dr. Lass, and Scientific Director, Professor Beth Ann Benetz, the Cornea Image Analysis Reading Center has contributed to four National Eye Institute (NEI)-funded randomized controlled trials focused on keratoplasty and eye banking.
These collaborations have produced the highest levels of clinical evidence on donor tissue characteristics, storage conditions and surgical outcomes, findings that continue to shape global standards in eye banking and keratoplasty.
Recent research includes the NEI-funded Diabetes Endothelial Keratoplasty Study (DEKS), involving 28 clinical sites and 13 eye banks, examining the impact of donor diabetes on graft outcomes following Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK).
The Cornea Image Analysis Reading Center’s ongoing NEI-funded work includes the DEKS as well as the Descemet Endothelial Thickness Comparison Trial (DETECT) with Stanford investigators which compares outcomes among DMEK, ultrathin DSAEK, and Descemet Stripping Only procedures, and the DOD-funded Multicenter Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Ex Vivo Corneal Cross-Linking of Donor Corneal Tissue Used for Vascularized High-Risk Keratoplasty (ExCrossV) with Mass Eye and Ear investigators, studying the impact on crosslinking donor corneas to reduce graft rejection in high risk corneal transplants.
Landmark Trials Include:
- Cornea Donor Study (CDS) and Specular Microscopy Ancillary Study (SMAS) – Established that donor age does not significantly affect graft survival or endothelial cell loss, transforming donor selection practices.
- Cornea Preservation Time Study (CPTS) – Demonstrated that donor corneas can be preserved for up to 11 days for DSAEK procedures, expanding the global donor pool.
- Diabetes Endothelial Keratoplasty Study (DEKS)—Demontrated that donor diabetes does not impact graft success and endothelial cell loss 1 year after DMEK expanding the donor pool for the use of donors with diabetes
Industry Partnerships and Clinical Impact
CIARC has been most active in the minimally invasive glaucoma surgery space including two- and five-year studies on endothelial cell loss associated with the CyPass Micro-Stent, which provided critical long-term safety insights and informed the device’s voluntary withdrawal from the market. These and other studies, including large control cohorts from phacoemulsification surgery research, continue to inform best practices and guide safer innovation across the global ophthalmic device landscape. CIARC has been also very active in supporting as the reading center for the advancement of new medical and surgical therapies of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy.