Abstract
Purpose To analyze the characteristics of ocular tissue donors (age, gender, cause of death, time between death and retrieval of removal of keratolimbal discs), as well as the suitability for keratoplasty of the resulting corneal grafts (keratobioimplants), for the period from 2013 to 2023.
Methods Endothelial morphology, endothelial cell density, statistical analysis
Results During the initial 10 years of the operation of the Department for the production of corneal grafts (keratobioimplants), part of the state enterprise ”Bioimplant” of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, 2255 grafts were distributed for keratoplasty to ophthalmological clinics in Ukraine. These grafts were processed from 1279 donors, 3% of which were under 30 years old, 47% aged between 30 and 60 years, and 50% over 60 years old. The gender distribution was 79% male and 21% female. Time between death and corneal retrieval: up to 6 hours - 25%, 6-9 hours - 25%, 9-12 hours - 20%, 12-15 hours - 30%.
An analysis of endothelial cell density allows us to divide all keratobioimplants stored in Eusol-C (AL.CHI.MI.A.Srl, Italy) at a temperature of 2-8°C into 4 groups, in percentage terms: 1st group - 3200 cells/mm², 0+250.0 (65%); 2nd group – 2700.0+200.0 (20%); 3rd group – 2200.0+200.0 (12%); Group 4 -1700.0+200.0 (3%).
Conclusions The possibility of obtaining corneal tissue from a relatively young donor pool (half of the donors under the age of 60) and with a short postmortem interval (retrieval up to 9 hours after death), coupled with the implementation of European standards for donor corneal tissue processing and a step-by-step cytological screening approach, allows for the utilization of only high-quality corneal grafts that meet up-to-date requirements for the treatment of patients in Ukraine and in Europe.
