Abstract

Objective : Compare the demographic, microbiological and utilisation of corneas obtained through voluntary donation vs HCRP.
Methods: Donor corneas received in the eye bank over a 6 year period were included in the study. Donor corneas were graded according to the cornea donor study. Their quality and utility was then assessed.
Results: Out of the 7741 corneas collected from 4021 donors, 41.2% donations were voluntary, 58.2% were HCRP. When a comparison was made between the voluntary donations before covid era(2017-2020) with post covid era(2020-2023) a considerable increase in voluntary donations was noted(p=0.041). There was no significant difference in the quality grading of the tissues obtained from either voluntary donations or HCRP.
Conclusions: A significant increase in voluntary donations has been noted. No significant difference has been noted in the grading of tissue obtained through voluntary donations vs HCRP.