ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The Hospital Corneal Retrieval Program (HCRP) aims to counsel and encourage the family of a critically ill or deceased person in the hospital for eye donation. Adequately sensitized health-care workers (HCWs) may play a pivotal role in boosting HCRP. STUDY DESIGN: Multicentric, cross-sectional, descriptive study. METHODS: Study participants included all HCWs of three medical colleges, including one with eye bank and corneal transplant services. A pretested, structured questionnaire was used to record the awareness, knowledge, and attitude about eye donation among HCWs. The expected outcome was to seek differences in awareness, if any, among medical and paramedical workers of medical colleges with (group A) or without (group B) eye bank and corneal transplant facilities. RESULTS: Of the 4060 study participants, 2100 HCWs were in group A and the rest (1960) were in group B. For eight out of 13 questions assessing awareness and perception, a statistically insignificant difference in responses was observed between the two groups. Regarding questions related to attitude, although the majority of HCWs in both groups were comfortable talking about eye donation, they did feel that counseling relatives of a terminally ill patient about eye donation was insensitive. Less than half of HCWs showed a willingness to donate eyes, and about half of the participants wanted to acquire more knowledge about eye donation. CONCLUSION: Awareness regarding eye donation among HCWs was mostly found to be at dismal levels, irrespective of whether they worked in an institute with or without eye bank and corneal transplant services. This warrants an accelerated effort at sensitizing HCWs as a strengthening measure for HCRP.
ABSTRACT
Aim To compare the postoperative keratometric changes and duration of surgery for different techniques of conjunctival autografting in pterygium surgery. Methods Patients with primary pterygium attending the outpatient department and having appropriate indications for surgery were enrolled. Preoperative ophthalmic examination included visual acuity assessment, refraction, keratometry, slit lamp, and fundus evaluation. Pterygium excision surgery with conjunctival autografting was performed on all patients using one of the four different techniques, namely, sutures, fibrin glue, and the autologous blood and bridge techniques. Duration of surgery was recorded for all patients. Postoperatively, all patients were followed up on Day 1, Day 7, and Months 1, 3, and 6. Duration of surgery, keratometric changes, and recurrence rates were analyzed in all four groups. Results Sixty-eight eyes of 66 patients completed the study protocol. There was a significant reduction in astigmatism after the autologous blood graft technique (P value 0.0055) and the glue technique (P value < 0.0001). The success rate of the autologous and glue technique was 90%. The glue technique was found to be more time efficient (mean duration 20.40 minutes) than other techniques. Conclusion After pterygium excision, conjunctival auto grafting using either autologous blood or glue plays a significant role in reducing pterygium-induced astigmatism and recurrence rates with the added advantage of a shorter operative time.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study was carried out to see the results of glycerol-preserved cornea (GPC) in emergency situation when fresh corneal tissue was not available. The aim was to study the outcome of corneal transplantation using GPC. METHODS: This was a retrospective study. The medical records of all the patients were reviewed, who underwent keratoplasty using "GPC" during the period from October 2011 to December 2015. The indication of keratoplasty, duration of preservation of the GPC, and its outcome were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were applied. RESULTS: Out of the 222 penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) performed over the study period, the GPC was used in 34 patients (males = 31, 91.2%) aged 15-74 years. Therapeutic keratoplasty was performed in all cases in this cohort except one in which tectonic keratoplasty was done. The primary indication of PKP (91.2%) was infectious keratitis. Of these, 20 (64.5%) patients presented with perforated corneal ulcers. Post-PKP, ocular anatomy was preserved in 91.2%, and visual acuity of perception of light positive and accurate projection of rays in all the quadrants was obtained in 76.5% cases. Complications included glaucoma (n = 12, 35.1%), phthisis bulbi (n = 2, 5.9%), and graft reinfection and endophthalmitis after PKP (n = 1, 2.9%). The secondary procedure post-GPC and PKP were trabeculectomy with mitomycin C (n = 7, 58.3%) in patients not controlled on topical antiglaucoma medication. Optical keratoplasty was performed in (n = 3) 8.8% patients and triple procedure in (n = 2) 5.8% patients with good visual acuity postprocedure. CONCLUSIONS: Acellular GPCs are useful in emergency keratoplasty to avoid loss of vision and can save the eye.
