Factors influencing donor cornea utilization in a tertiary care centre: results from 5-year data

Purpose To evaluate utilization of corneal tissue procured by the eye bank of a tertiary care centre in north India, to determine factors that were responsible for labeling corneas unsuitable for transplantation, and to identify methods to improve donor tissue utilization. Methods We retrospectively reviewed records from our eye bank from May 2005 to April 2010. We compared donor demographics, death- enucleation interval, and biologic contamination of utilized and non- utilized corneal tissues. Results 3951 corneas were received during the study period. Of these, 2561 donor corneas (65%) were used for surgical purposes. Of the 1390 corneas not utilized for transplantation, 703 corneas (50.6%) were excluded due to poor tissue quality. Other causes were logistical reasons, such as no suitable recipient, in 267 (19.2%), bacterial growth on culture in128 (9.2%), contraindication in the donor’s medical history in 102(7.3%), and serological results in 83(6%). Mean age of donors in the utilized cornea group was 58.9 years (± 21.57 years) as compared to 67.52 years (± 19.82 years) in the non-utilized cornea group. The difference was statistically significant (P=0.000). Mean death-enucleation interval was comparable in the 2 groups (5.38 hours versus 4.62 hours; P=0.54). Conclusion Increase in age of donors results in poorer tissue quality and emerges as a significant factor in non–utilization of donor corneas for transplantation.