Epidemiological analysis of corneal donors and patients queuing for keratoplasty

Purpose: To characterize corneal donors and patients on the waiting list for keratoplasty clinically and epidemiologically. Methods: Epidemiological, cross-sectional study with a sample of 1,303 donors and 938 patients on the waiting list were analyzed. Performed in MS State Transplant Center (STC) and the Human Ocular Tissue Bank, from January to June 2019. For the qualitative variables, descriptive analysis was performed. In the quantitative variables, trend and data dispersion measures were analyzed. Results: Of the 2,606 corneas, 31.73% were transplanted, 21.64% of donors were reagents for infectious diseases that contraindicated transplantation, with a higher percentage of reagents in donors aged over 50 years (p <0.001). Keratoconus stood out as the main ocular diagnosis in the frequency distribution. The average age found for patients in the waiting line was 49.05 years. Regarding the average waiting time to perform the transplant, it was 108.46 days for elective transplants and 11.0 days for emergency transplants. Conclusion: More than 40% of the tissues taken from donors were discarded, with emphasis on epithelial defects and reagent serologies. Keratoconus was the main indication of patients queuing for keratoplasty.