Dez anos de doação de córneas no Banco de Olhos do Hospital São Paulo: perfil dos doadores de 1996 a 2005

BACKGROUND: Despite all efforts towards the improvement of the eye bank system, the shortage of corneal tissue for transplant is still an important issue in Brazil. The Hospital Sao Paulo Eye Bank aims to provide high-quality ocular tissues for surgery starting with rigorous selection of donors. PURPOSE: To investigate the characteristics of cornea donors to the Hospital Sao Paulo Eye Bank during a 10-year period. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of Hospital Sao Paulo Eye Bank records from January 1996 to December 2005. RESULTADS: 3,624 corneas were evaluated by the Hospital Sao Paulo Eye Bank during this 10-year period. Mean age of donors was 56.8 years the highest proportion being in the 70-79 years age category. The most common cause of death was cardiovascular disease followed by cancer and trauma. Mean "enucleation" and "preservation" times were 3.8 and 3.6 hours, respectively. The number of corneas received by our eye bank from other eye banks decreased substantially whereas the number of corneas harvested by the Hospital Sao Paulo Eye Bank staff increased. Optisol GS® were the most utilized preservation media and a high proportion of corneas classified as "Excellent" or "Good" came from young donors. CONCLUSIONS: In a period of 10 years, there was a decreasing trend in the number of donated corneas provided by other eye banks to the Hospital Sao Paulo Eye Bank and an increase in the number of corneas harvested and processed by the Hospital Sao Paulo Eye Bank staff with a significant reduction of preservation time. Most donors were male and the main cause of death was cardiovascular disease. Although a great proportion of donated corneas came from older donors, the majority of corneas used for optical transplants came from younger ones.