title: Implementation of Organ Culture storage of donor corneas: a 3 year study of its impact on the corneal transplant wait list at the Lions New South Wales Eye Bank.
abstract: Organ Culture corneal storage offers an extended storage time and increased donor pool and tissue assessment opportunities. In September 2011, the Lions New South Wales Eye Bank (LNSWEB) moved from hypothermic storage to Organ Culture corneal storage. This study evaluates the impact of implementation of Organ Culture on donor eye retrieval and the corneal transplant waiting list over a 3 year period in NSW, Australia. Retrospective review of the LNSWEB data from September 2011 to August 2014. Tissue collection, waiting list and tissue utilization data were recorded. The data from September 2008 to August 2011 for Optisol-GS storage was used for comparison. The annual donor and cornea collection rate increased 35 % and 44 % respectively with Organ Culture compared to Optisol-GS storage. The utilization rate of corneal tissue increased from 73.4 % with hypothermic storage to 77.2 % with Organ Culture storage. The transplant wait list decreased by 77.3 % from September 2011 to August 2014 and correlated with the increased rate of corneal transplantation (r = -0.9381, p < 0.0001). No other factors impacting the wait list changed over this period. Corneas not used from either storage method were due to unacceptable endothelial cell density/viability. The contamination rate of corneas stored in Organ Culture medium was low at 1.74 %. The Organ Culture storage method increases the corneal donor pool available to Eye banks. The practical benefits of the extended storage time and increased donor assessment opportunities have directly led to an increase in corneal utilization rate and a significant decrease in recipient wait list time.
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Raj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Devasahayam
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Georges
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia.|Vision Eye Institute, Chatswood, Australia.|School of Orthoptics, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hodge
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Treloggen
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia.|Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.|Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Con
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Petsoglou
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia.|Vision Eye Institute, Chatswood, Australia.|Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.|Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.affiliation: Lions New South Wales Eye Bank and New South Wales Bone Bank, New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service, GPO Box 1614, Sydney, 2001, New South Wales, Australia. meidong.zhu@sydney.edu.au.|Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. meidong.zhu@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Meidong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003315:Cornea / Q000502:physiology*; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D005125:Eye Banks; D006801:Humans; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D014019:Tissue Donors
keywords: Cornea; Eye banks; Organ Culture; Transplantation