Survey report on keratoplasty in China: A 5-year review from 2014 to 2018

PLoS One. 2020 Oct 15;15(10):e0239939. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239939. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

To provide the general information on corneal transplantation (CT) in China, China Cornea Society designed a questionnaire on CT from 2014 to 2018 and entrusted it to 31 committee members for implementation of the survey nationwide. This article presents the results of the survey and compares the indicators used in the survey and those in the annual statistical report released by the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA). The number of corneal transplantations completed by the 64 hospitals from 2014 to 2018 was respectively 5377, 6394, 7595, 8270 and 8980, totally 36,616 (22,959 male and 13,657 female). The five largest hospitals by the number of corneal transplantations completed 15,994 surgeries in total, accounting for 43.68% of all the surgeries performed in the 64 hospitals. The most common indication for corneal transplantations was corneal leukoma (7683, 20.98%), followed by bacterial keratitis (4209, 11.49%), corneal dystrophies (4189, 11.44%), keratoconus (3578, 9.77%) and corneal perforation (2839, 7.75%). The main surgical techniques were penetrating keratoplasty (PK) (19,896, 54.34%), anterior lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) (13,869, 37.88%). The proportion of PK decreased from 57.97% in 2014 to 52.88% in 2018 while the proportion of ALK increased from 36.04% in 2014 to 37.92% in 2018. The geographical distribution of keratoplasties performed in China is unbalanced. PK and ALK were the main techniques of CT and corneal leukoma, bacterial keratitis and corneal dystrophies were the main indications for CT in China.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • China
  • Cornea* / pathology
  • Cornea* / surgery
  • Corneal Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Corneal Diseases* / surgery
  • Corneal Transplantation* / methods
  • Corneal Transplantation* / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

Funding: This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number: 81570821 (HG), 81870639(HG); Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number: 81530027 (WS); Taishan Scholar Program, grant number: 20150215 (WS), 201812150(HG); and the Innovation Project of Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences (HG). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.