Corneal transplantation: the fine line between donor shortage and tissue quality

[摘要] In the current issue of BMJ Open Ophthalmology, Downward et al,1 on behalf of the UKNational Health Service Blood and OcularTissue Advisory Group and ContributingOphthalmologists, investigate long-termgraft survival and rejection rates in patientswho received corneas from donors whodonated both corneas for Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy or pseudophakic bullouskeratopathy (PBK), defined as ‘paired’donors. The aim was to assess, whetherthere was an association between recordeddonor characteristics such as endothelialcell density (ECD), age and sex, and endothelial graft failure and rejection. A totalof 1536 paired and 9302 unpaired cornealtransplants were included. While for theseendpoints, no clear differences were foundbetween paired and unpaired patients interms of endothelial graft failure andrejection rates, the authors were able toconfirm a lower ECD in unpaired singleeye donors. In addition, based on theirresults, they suggested that unpaired singlecornea donors had slightly worse rates ofrejection and failure for patients with PBK.They also reported that for Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy, there was a smalldifference in outcomes between pairedand unpaired donors (p=0.06).

[学科分类] 工业工程学

[关键词] Cornea