Thirty years of cornea cultivation: long‐term experience in a single eye bank. (2nd August 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Linke, Stephan J.; Eddy, Mau‐Thek; Bednarz, Jürgen; Fricke, Otto H.; Wulff, Birgit; Schröder, Ann‐Sophie; Hassenstein, Andrea; Klemm, Maren; Püschel, Klaus; Richard, Gisbert; Hellwinkel, Olaf J. C.
• Is Part Of: Acta ophthalmologica. Volume 91:Number 6(2013)
• Page Start: 571
• Page End: 578
• Publication Date: 2012-08-02
• Subjects: Ophthalmology -- Periodicals; 617.7005
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2012.02471.x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1755-375X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract.</title> <p> <bold>Purpose: </bold> To evaluate donor demographics, trends in donor tissue procurement and tissue storage over a long period.</p> <p> <bold>Methods: </bold> A retrospective, longitudinal, descriptive analysis was undertaken of data from the Hamburg Eye Bank Data Base (HEB‐DB) that had been collected between 1981 and 2010. Data on 54 parameters of cornea donors [including clinical history, age, death cause, gender and death‐to‐explantation interval (DEI)] and of cultivated corneas (endothelial quality and development in culture, cultivation period, microbiological contamination) were retrieved. These data were analysed statistically, focusing on the historical development of the eye bank.</p> <p> <bold>Results: </bold> At the time of retrieval (June 2010), the HEB‐DB contained data on 10 943 corneas (5503 donors). Most donors were men (65%) and had died from cardiopulmonary (<italic>n</italic> = 801)/cerebral (<italic>n</italic> = 261) failure or as the result of a polytraumatic accident/suicide (<italic>n</italic> = 602). Within these years, donor age, DEI and storage time increased. The percentage of stored corneas suitable for transplantation displayed a variable but increasing trend; in 2007, almost 75% of the stored corneas were transplanted. Between 1995 and June 2010, the median microbiological contamination rate was 5.3%. A change in the procurement procedure from enucleation to corneoscleral explantation in 2008 led to a briefly increased contamination rate.</p> <p> <bold>Conclusion: </bold> Donor demographic data run parallel to the general demographic development. Our analysis indicates a dynamic development of the eye bank over the last 30 years and emphasizes the need for an active quality management in coping with the challenges of modern eye banking.</p> </abstract>