Retrospective Analysis of Surgical Outcomes After Corneal Transplantation

An insufficient donor supply is a worldwide problem in organ transplantation. Even with corneal transplantations, the most widely performed transplantation, shortages and imbalances in donor supply is a global concern. In National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), the investigators performed over one hundred of corneal transplantations every year and the majority of donor corneas were from the eye bank in United States. Previous literature showed satisfactory results in corneal transplantation using foreign donor corneas compared with domestic corneas. However longer preservation time had associated with a statistically significant increased risk of persistence of the postoperative epithelial defect. On the other hand, longer storage times may allow better outcomes in high-risk grafts because of the depletion of donor T cells from the donor cornea into the storage media.

Currently, no demographic and surgical results comparing different donor cornea sources were available in Taiwan. NTUH, as one of the largest tertiary medical centers in northern Taiwan, is now in charge of a big part of intense care for patients receiving corneal transplantation. With detailed medical record done of these patients during care in the ward and out-patient clinic, the investigators are competence for this meaningful program.