{
  "abstract": "Purpose Endophthalmitis after corneal transplantation, although rare, remains sight-threatening complication. Therefore, it is important to establish an efficient and sensitive method to ensure the provision of high-quality and safe tissue to recipients and the tissue itself. Standard microbiological testing of corneas in organ culture at the Croatian Tissue and Cell Bank (CTCB) involves visual inspection of the medium’s color and turbidity, as well as inoculation of the storage medium in BD BACTEC FX aerobic and anaerobic broth bottles for 7 days. This study aims to compare the semi-automated HB&L Uroquattro method with standard microbiological testing with BD BACTEC™ FX method and visual detection of corneal storage media.Methods Microbiological testing of 51 organ culture corneas (Tissue-C, Alchimia, Italy) procured between January and March 2024 was performed using both the BD BACTEC FX system (Becton, Dickinson and Co, USA) and the HB&L Uroquattro (Alifax, Italy) simultaneously, along with visual inspection of the medium. Samples of the organ culture medium were incubated for 24 hours in the HB&L system and for 7 days in the BD BACTEC FX system, with daily visual inspections conducted throughout the incubation period.Results Microbiological contamination was detected in 7,8% (N 4/51) tested corneas. Visual inspection of the organ culture medium identified all cases of contamination, which were characterized by discoloration and/or turbidity and were confirmed by further testing. However, discrepancies were observed in both the HB&L Allifax and BD BACTEC FX methods in a single medium sample, which isolated the saprophytic mold Chaetomium spp. The remaining tested samples (N 47/51; 92,2%) were negative when using the BD BACTEC™ FX and HB&L Allifax methods, and no visual changes in the tested medium were observed. The HB&L Allifax method detects positive anaerobic findings in less than 2 hours, which is quicker than the BD BACTEC FX method. However, for aerobic findings, the HB&L Allifax method takes longer than the BD BACTEC FX method.Conclusion Visual detection of the medium and BD BACTEC provides satisfactory results for detecting microbiological contamination in corneas stored in organ culture. Additional use of the HB&L Allifax method does not enhance safety or speed in identifying microbiologically positive samples and may pose an organizational and financial burden. From an organizational perspective, it would be more efficient to revise the institutional operating procedure for microbiological testing. We recommend that upon visual detection of contamination, the vial containing the cloudy medium be promptly sent to the microbiological laboratory for direct Gram preparation and subculturing.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Transfusion Medicine and Transplantation Biology, Croatian Tissue and Cell Bank, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia"
      ],
      "name": "Dolores Bukulin"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Transfusion Medicine and Transplantation Biology, Croatian Tissue and Cell Bank, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia"
      ],
      "name": "Ivana Vidović"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Clinical Microbiology, Infection Prevention and Control, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia 2"
      ],
      "name": "Aleksandra Presečki Stanko"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Transfusion Medicine and Transplantation Biology, Croatian Tissue and Cell Bank, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia"
      ],
      "name": "Marina Rončević Krajina"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Transfusion Medicine and Transplantation Biology, Croatian Tissue and Cell Bank, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia"
      ],
      "name": "Suzana Tutić Lazić"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Transfusion Medicine and Transplantation Biology, Croatian Tissue and Cell Bank, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia"
      ],
      "name": "Ines Bojanić"
    }
  ],
  "title": "2.2. Comparison of the semi-automated HB&L Uroquattro method with and standard microbiological testing for corneal storage media",
  "uid": "fa59ecff-1c2c-551c-acd0-0e046badba29"
}