J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2006 Apr;47(4):525-530.

Penetrating Keratoplasty before and after Establishment of Korean Network for Organ Sharing

• Cho EY
• Kim MS

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate the status of corneal transplantation in Korea over the last 6 years.
METHODS
We evaluated the current status of domestic corneal transplantation using the data obtained from Korean Network for Organ Sharing (KONOS). We evaluated imported corneal transplantation by the number of corneal transplantations, the country of origin of imported cornea, the preserved state of corneas, the time from the death to transplantation and the result of corneal transplantation. The imported corneal transplantation data was obtained from the institution registered in KONOS and the institution recognized by the authers.
RESULTS
The number of domestic cornea donations has not increased since 2000, but the number of transplantations using imported corneas has increased year by year. The quality of imported corneas was good. There was no difference in operation results when domestic corneas were used compared to the use of imported corneas from the USA, Australia or Sri Lanka.
CONCLUSIONS
The increased use of imported corneas results of a deficiency in the number of domestic cornea donations. Social motivation should be used to increase domestic donations of corneas.

Keyword

Cornea donation; Imported donor cornea; KONOS; Penetrating keratoplasty

MeSH Terms

Australia
Cornea
Corneal Transplantation
Keratoplasty, Penetrating*
Korea
Motivation
Sri Lanka