Comparison of hospital cornea retrieval and voluntary eye donation program in eye banking

Abstract

Objectives: Comparison of demographic, clinical, microbiological, and utility profile of the corneas obtained through hospital corneal retrieval program (HCRP) and voluntary eye donation (VED) program. Methods: Donor corneas retrieved during a 14 months period at National eye bank, India were included in the study. The donor cornea grading was done according to the cornea donor study. The corneal swabs were taken from the donor eyes and were sent for microbiological evaluation. The quality of the donor corneas and their utility was assessed. Results: Out of 1,014 donor corneas collected (700 through HCRP< 314 through VED), 455 were of optical grade (91.2% [415/455] through the HCRP and 8.7% ..