Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on corneal tissue donation and utilization rate - Time to bring reforms?

Parekh, Mohit; Nathawat, Rakhi; Parihar, Jitendra Kumar Singh; Jhanji, Vishal; Sharma, Namrata

doi:10.4103/ijo.ijo_2714_21

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(5 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Studies from the United States ( 7–9 ), United Kingdom ( 10 ), Canada ( 11 ), Germany ( 12 ), Italy ( 13–15 ), India ( 16–20 ), and continental data from Europe ( 21 ) showed a decrease in the number of donor corneal tissues procured during their respective lockdown periods in 2020. However, the magnitude of this decline varied among the different regions ( Table 1 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global impact of COVID-19 on corneal donor tissue harvesting and corneal transplantation

Mousavi,

Kahuam-López,

Iovieno

et al. 2023

Front. Med.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe purpose of this review is to consolidate and examine the available literature on the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and its effect on corneal transplantation and eye banking.MethodsA primary literature search was conducted using the PubMed (Medline) database with keywords and MeSH terms such as “corneal transplantation,” “eye banks,” “keratoplasty” and then were combined with COVID-19. Relevant articles through September 2022 were assessed and 25 articles were included in this review.ResultsDonor tissue volumes declined globally during lockdown periods due to a lower number of referrals and tighter tissue screening guidelines. Rates of elective surgeries decreased in the lockdown period compared to respective periods in previous years. However, changes in rates of emergency procedures were not uniform across different regions. Moreover, rates of different elective corneal grafts [i.e., penetrating keratoplasty (PK), endothelial keratoplasty (EK), or anterior lamellar keratoplasty (ALK)] were affected differently with the pattern of change being dependent on region-specific factors.ConclusionBoth donor tissue volumes and rates of corneal transplant procedures were affected by lockdown restrictions. The underlying etiology of these changes differed by region. Examining the range of impact across many countries as well as the contributing factors involved will provide guidance for future global pandemics.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global impact of COVID-19 on corneal donor tissue harvesting and corneal transplantation

Mousavi,

Kahuam-López,

Iovieno

et al. 2023

Front. Med.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In 2018-19, 68,409 corneas were retrieved in India, and 50% of the collected corneas were utilized. [ 5 ] In contrast, the USA collected 122,472 corneas in 2022 and used 79126 of these corneas for keratoplasty. [ 6 ]…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Eye Donation Counsellor Skill Evaluation Tool (EDC-SET): A step toward improved eye donation counseling

Nathawat,

Farooqui,

Majumdar

et al. 2023

Indian Journal of Ophthalmology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: The expansion of the Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme (HCRP) and the role of Eye Donation Counsellors (EDCs) have shown promising results in increasing donor cornea availability. To further enhance EDC competency and improve cornea availability for transplantation, the study proposes the Eye Donation Counsellor Skill Evaluation Tool (EDC‐SET). Key words: Competency assessment, corneal blindness, Eye Donation Counsellors (EDCs), eye health, Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme (HCRP), skill evaluation. Methods: A competency framework for EDCs and a tool for evaluation of the competency level (EDC-SET) was designed, along with scripts for emulating realistic counselling scenarios. Independent assessors were trained on using EDC-SET and evaluated EDCs participating in role-plays based on the pre-designed scripts. EDCs were briefed a priori on the EDC-SET but not on the role play scripts which were used during evaluation. Results: We piloted the tool at a tertiary eye hospital, and it was found to capture EDC competency reliably. The study evaluated seven EDCs each assessed by two independent assessors. Conformity, kappa, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values were calculated to estimate the parameter‐wise reliability of the EDC‐SET. The results suggest that the scores from both assessors closely matched for most of the parameters, and overall, their ratings showed moderate agreement. The difficulty level of each parameter as assessed by the two assessors was also calculated. It was observed that most participants found “Initiation of the Case” and “Empathy and Emotional Support” challenging. However, “Body Language,” “Cultural Awareness,” and “Attentiveness to Family Dynamics” were perceived as relatively easy or not difficult by participants. Conclusion: Evaluation of EDCs using EDC-SET revealed the varying competency levels of EDCs and showed agreement on the evaluation between the assessors. Implementing the EDC‐SET could help standardise the mapping and measurement of the skill set of EDCs, thereby enhancing their performance and reducing corneal blindness in India.

show abstract

Editorial: Corneal transplantation and eye banking

Romano

Ferrari²,

Levis³

et al. 2022

Front. Med.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Editorial on the Research Topic Corneal Transplantation and Eye BankingCornea, the front transparent layer of the eye, is responsible for vision clarity. Disease or dysfunction in any layer of this multilayer tissue can lead to corneal blindness in addition to pain and discomfort. Corneal transplantation is the most popular choice of treatment where a healthy donor graft obtained from a cadaver is harvested, stored or processed in an eye bank and used to replace the diseased host tissue (1). However, human cadaveric corneal tissues have a worldwide shortage, so researchers are finding alternative solutions to treat corneal disorders (2). Improved surgical techniques, graft restoration procedures, cell and molecular based treatment options, and tissue alternatives have all contributed to the advancement in the field of corneal transplant and eye banking (3). In addition, since the pandemic impacted tissue procurement significantly, a huge waiting list was observed due to lack of tissues for elective surgeries (4, 5). However, with significant amount of work to improve the donation rate, the corneal transplantation has resumed and now fully functional with tissue donations being actively pursued.The studies in this special issue on Corneal transplantation and eye banking highlighted recent advances. Novel and long-term clinical outcomes suggested that Boston type 1 KPro can be used for patients with aniridia associated keratopathy (AAK), however, it was suggested that glaucoma and restroprosthetic membrane formation must be considered before transplanting such device in these patients (Dyer et al.). Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) is routinely performed to replace the anterior cornea. Usually, the donor tissue is cut to a desired thickness and the diseased anterior stroma replaced. However, a recent long-term study evaluated a new polymethymethacrylate (PMMA) ring (Neoring) and showed that this synthetic device can be used as a viable, effective, and safe option for pre-Descemet DALK to optimize Frontiers in Medicine frontiersin.org

show abstract

Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on corneal tissue donation and utilization rate - Time to bring reforms?

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Global impact of COVID-19 on corneal donor tissue harvesting and corneal transplantation

Global impact of COVID-19 on corneal donor tissue harvesting and corneal transplantation

Eye Donation Counsellor Skill Evaluation Tool (EDC-SET): A step toward improved eye donation counseling

Editorial: Corneal transplantation and eye banking

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About