Potential for hospital cornea retrieval programme in a rural medical college

Abstract

Background Corneal diseases are an important cause of blindness in our country. Visual rehabilitation of the corneal blind is possible by transplantation (Keratoplasty) of cornea retrieved from voluntary eye donation. Voluntary eye donations are unable to meet the demand for donor corneas. Hospital Cornea Retrieval Programme has the potential in increasing the number of donor corneas. Aim To study the potential for hospital cornea retrieval programme in adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, B.G. Nagara. Materials and Methods This retrospective, record-based study included all hospital deaths of our institution that occurred over a one year period between October 2014-September 2015. Data regarding the demographic profile, cause of death, systemic diseases and treatment given were collected from the medical records. The number of patients from whom corneal retrieval could have been done was analyzed after excluding those patients in whom corneal retrieval was contraindicated as per national programme for control of blindness guidelines. Results a total of 290 deaths had occurred during the study period. The highest number of deaths were in the age group of 61–70 years. Cardiovascular causes stood out as the most common cause of death. Corneas could have been retrieved in 173 patients (n=290). Thus the potential for hospital cornea retrieval programme in our institution was in 59.66% of the deaths. Conclusion There is a good potential for hospital cornea retrieval programme in our institution. Hospital cornea retrieval programme can help in reducing the burden of corneal blindness in our country if implemented in a co-ordinated manner.