Eye banking standards need improvement in India

BANGALORE, India — Although an increase in the quantity of donor corneas is still necessary in India, the quality of donated corneal tissue must also be improved, according to a surgeon speaking here.

"Eye banking in India has great potential but is not adequate to meet the demand," M. Srinivasan, MBBS, DO, MS, said at the All India Ophthalmological Society conference. "The quality of harvested tissue is often not up to eye banking standards."

In a study conducted at the Aravind Eye Hospital in Pondicherry, which looked at 1,759 donor eyes, researchers found that 982 eyes (55.8%) were not suitable for transplant. Of those that were suitable for use, 28 eyes (1.6%) were considered to be in excellent condition, 21 eyes (1.2%) were considered very good, 382 eyes (21.7%) were good and 346 eyes (19.7%) were in fair condition, Dr. Srinivasan said.

The reasons eyes were considered unsuitable for use ranged from age-related complications to previous disease, he said. Most eyes (80%) were older than 50 years and there were few young donors, Dr. Srinivasan said.

In addition, he said some donor eyes arrived without serum samples, which eye banks require for necessary testing.

"Part of these problems arises from using mainly non-ophthalmologists to harvest donor eyes and any eye they have, they will send," Dr. Srinivasan said.