Use of resources in corneal tissue procurement: effects of donor characteristics and clinical practice

Corneal explantation activity in 2002: an analysis of the modified operational schedule

After data have been gathered about corneal explants performed within the AOP health-care web throughout 2001, the resulting findings were used to update the selection system for donation fitness and operational procedures. The rejection of anti-HBc-positive grafts and tissues coming from subjects more than 79 years old resulted in decreased donations (256 donations, that is 492 corneal explants in 2001 vs 140, that is 273 in 2002), although the number of deaths was unchanged (1298 in 2001 vs 1294 in 2002). Corneas fit for transplantation did not change in number-126 (25.6% of the total available) in 2001 and 113 (41.4%) in 2002-while the instances of rejected corneas occurred 56.3% less frequently, allowing a savings of great deal of human and money resources. After activity schedules were modified, the results analysis confirmed the expected improvement in 2001.