Donor Diabetes Mellitus Severity and Corneal Transplant Suitability in a US Eye Bank Donor Population

Purpose: To determine whether donor diabetes mellitus (DM) severity is associated with differences in endothelial cell density (ECD) and surgically unsuitable tissue. Methods: Raw data were obtained from Saving Sight Eye Bank (Kansas City, MO) including 10,454 donated eyes from 5346 eligible donors from July 2014 through May 2017. Donors were grouped into 5 categories by their insulin use and the presence of microvascular end-organ complications. The categories were non-DM (NDM), noninsulin-dependent DM without complications (NIDDMnc), noninsulin-dependent DM with complication (NIDDMc), insulin-dependent DM without complications, and insulin-dependent DM with complication. Outcome variables included ECD and tissue transplant suitability. Mixed effects models were used to adjust for the random effect of repeated measures and fixed effects of donor age, race, lens status, and death to refrigeration and death to preservation times. Interaction effects of DM severity group and donor age and DM severity group and lens status were included in the models. Results: One thousand six hundred eighty-four (32.1%) donors had a diagnosis of DM. Six hundred fifty-eight donors were in the NIDDMnc group, 225 in the NIDDMc group, 404 in the insulin-dependent DM without complication group, and 397 in the insulin-dependent DM with complication group. Compared with non-DM, donors with DM were older (P
Source: Cornea - Category: Opthalmology Tags: Clinical Science Source Type: research