Cornea donation process and tissue quality for transplantation

PLoS One. 2021 Apr 20;16(4):e0249927. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249927. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Introduction: The quality of the corneal tissue can be influenced by several factors inherent to the recipient, donor, and to the donation and transplantation process. The donated corneal tissue can be classified by its quality as excellent, good, regular, bad, or unacceptable for transplantation, evaluating it in a slit lamp.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between the clinical and sociodemographic variables of the donors and the donation process and the classification of the quality of the corneal tissue collected for transplantation.

Methods: This is an epidemiologic study, retrospective cohort type, which addressed the process of cornea donation by the Human Eye Tissue Bank in a reference service in Northeast Brazil. The sample consisted of corneas processed by the Human Eye Tissue Bank of Rio Grande do Norte (n = 419). For descriptive and inferential analysis, the study used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 25.0, and considered a significance level of 0.05. Logistic regression analysis was used for the adjustment of the final model.

Results: It was verified that the epidemiological profile showed a prevalence of individuals with a mean age of 42.54 years old, male (73.99%), and living in the metropolitan region of the state capital (75.66%). When analyzing the relationship between the clinical and sociodemographic variables of the donors, it was identified that those aged 45 years old or less had better quality corneas (excellent and good), while the chronological variables were predictive factors for corneas of regular and bad qualities.

Conclusion: The identification of the factors inherent to the donation process and predictors of corneal tissue quality contribute to minimizing the risk of transplantation and to a better ocular prognosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brazil
  • Cornea / physiology*
  • Corneal Transplantation
  • Demography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Time Factors
  • Tissue Donors / statistics & numerical data
  • Tissue Preservation / methods*

Grants and funding

This study was financed in part by Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. PhD scholarship. Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) - Translation revision rate. Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) - Publication rate. Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. PhD scholarship.