Impact of demographic factors on corneal donor recovery

Death-to-preservation time (DTP) is a commonly reported, but infrequently studied, measure of efficiency for the corneal tissue procurement process and is a key screening component for corneal tissue suitability for transplantation. It is unknown whether demographic factors such as race, age, or gender may affect DTP.

This retrospective cross-sectional study included all deceased-donor eye tissue collected by CorneaGen Eye Banks between June 1, 2012 and June 30, 2016. Exposure variables of race, age, and gender were independently analyzed with the outcome variable, DTP, using three simple linear regression analyzes. Associations were then confirmed by a multiple linear regression analysis within a single model.

A total of 24,138 unique donors were identified from 48,207 donor eyes. Simple linear regression analysis showed that relative to White donors, Black and Hispanic donors were associated with a 2.40 h (95% CI 2.07–2.74 h, p < 0.001) and 2.48 h (95% CI 2.15–2.80 h, p < 0.001) longer mean DTP, respectively. DTP decreased with increasing age, at a rate of 30 min per every 10 years (95% CI 27–33 min, p < 0.001). Male donors were associated with a 35 min (95% CI 26–44 min, p < 0.001) longer DTP relative to female donors. A multiple linear regression confirmed the results of the three simple linear regressions.

In a large cohort of corneal donors, non-White race, younger age, and male gender were associated with longer DTP.