Characterization of cornea donors at a tissue center in the city of Medellin, Colombia

Cell Tissue Bank. 2024 Jun;25(2):619-623. doi: 10.1007/s10561-023-10124-x. Epub 2023 Dec 23.

Abstract

The cornea transplant is considered the most frequently performed type of transplant in the world, with a demand that has been increasing in recent years. An observational descriptive study was conducted, focusing on the ocular tissue extracted from cadaveric donors from January 2019 to December 2021 at the Red Cross Eye Bank in Medellin, Colombia. This is the first epidemiological characterization of corneal donor tissues within the eye banks of our city, where high rates of violence-related deaths explain that tissue donors are mostly young individuals. This, in turn, results in excellent counts of endothelial cells and tissue viability in their microscopic studies. Additionally, there are lower rates of discarded tissues compared to similar studies.

Keywords: Cornea; Corneal transplantation; Eye banks; Tissue donors.

Publication types

  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cities
  • Colombia
  • Cornea*
  • Corneal Transplantation*
  • Eye Banks* / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Tissue Donors*
  • Young Adult