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Donor age does not affect most penetrating keratoplasties for endothelial disease
Donor age did not have a significant impact on the long-term success rates of most penetrating keratoplasty procedures for endothelial disease, according to the Cornea Donor Study.
The multicenter, prospective, double-masked study comprised 1,090 patients who underwent PK at 80 sites; 62% had Fuchs’ dystrophy, 34% had pseudophakic/aphakic corneal edema and 4% had another corneal endothelial disorder. Patients were followed for up to 12 years.
Corneas were provided by 43 eye banks from donors aged 12 years to 75 years.
Seven hundred seven corneas from donors aged 12 years to 65 years had a 77% success rate at 10 years compared with a 71% success rate for 383 corneas from donors aged 66 years to 75 years. The difference was not significant.
Advanced donor age correlated with decreased graft success rate after 5 years (P < .001).
There was a 96% success rate for 80 donors aged 12 years to 33 years compared with a 62% success rate for 130 donors aged 72 years to 75 years.
“Although the primary analysis did not show a significant difference in 10-year success rates comparing ages 12 to 65 and 66 to 75 years, there was evidence of a donor age effect at the very extremes of the age range,” the study authors said.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of the authors’ relevant financial disclosures.