title: Penetrating keratoplasty in south east London 1981-1986: epidemiological aspects and demands on medical resources.
abstract: We have compared penetrating keratoplasty at a teaching hospital and a district general hospital (DGH). At the teaching hospital, the pathology was similar to previous reports, but at the DGH the patients were older (P less than 0.01) and had a worse prognosis. The vision in the unoperated eye was also frequently poor. The number of postoperative outpatient visits within a hospital was unrelated to the original disease, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two centres. At the DGH, a corneal transplant patient requires the outpatient resources equivalent to three matched cataract patients. The implications for medical manpower requirements are discussed.
authors.affiliation: St Thomas' Hospital, London.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Claoué
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falcon
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shilling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006295:Health Resources; D006767:Hospitals, District / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007634:Keratitis / Q000601:surgery; D007640:Keratoconus / Q000601:surgery; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D011379:Prognosis; D013997:Time Factors; D014792:Visual Acuity