Causes of death and discard of donated corneal tissues: Federal District eye bank analysis 2014 -2017

Abstract

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the causes for discarding corneas at the Eye Bank of the Federal District in Brasilia, Brazil, and describe the social and demographic variables and Causa Mortis of cornea donors from 2014 to 2017. Methods: We conducted an exploratory and social-epidemiologic descriptive study regarding cornea donation. The data base information was obtained from the corneal donor's medical records analysis. All of the potential donors' records (cause of death, cause of cornea discard, month of donation, age, gender, and time of death, corneal enucleation and preservation), from 2014 to 2017 were included in the study. Results: We looked at 1,574 corneal donor notifications. Demographic characteristics displayed significant differences in gender distribution (male, 74.8% and female, 25.2%), and the average donor age was 40 ± 15.9 years. 25% of the causes of death were from cardiovascular disease followed by 19.6% from sharp or blunt instrument injury, 14.2% resulted from multiple traumas. We described 3,074 donated corneas from the DF Eye Bank, where 2.6% has not been uptaken. Of those 3,074 corneal tissues, nearly 60% (n=1,836) have been transplanted and 40% (n=1,238) were discarded. Regarding the causes of discard, 68% (n=841) were due to positive or indeterminate serological blood tests and 39% (n=486) because of matureness (expired medium guaranteed period of corneal preservation). Conclusions: Specific issues such as violent causes of death, gender disproportion and total time of corneal processing can be better managed to reduce procurement times, and availability, of corneal tissue for transplantation.

Keywords

• Córnea
• Epidemiologia
• Banco de olhos
• Transplante de córnea
• Brasil