Long-Term Trend In Corneal Transplantation From 2000 To 2022 In Tertiary Referral Hospital Of Korea
Published 2023 - 41st Congress of the ESCRS
Reference: PO0601 | DOI: 10.82333/d2y5-3s05
Authors: Yunjin Lee* 1 , Chang Ho Yoon 2 , Joo Youn Oh 2 , Hyuk Jin Choi 2 , Mee Kum Kim 2
1Ophthalmology,Gachon university, Gil hospital,Incheon,Korea, Republic Of;Ophthalmology,Seoul National University College of Medicine,Seoul,Korea, Republic Of, 2Ophthalmology,Seoul National University College of Medicine,Seoul,Korea, Republic Of
This study aimed to analyze the trends in corneal transplantation in a tertiary referral hospital in Korea from 2000 to 2022.
The medical records of patients who underwent corneal transplantation (penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), deep lamellar keratoplasty, Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty, and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty) at Seoul National University Hospital between January 2000 and November 2022 were retrospectively reviewed.
This study was conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Seoul National University Hospital (approval number: 2211-066-1377). Data on demographic characteristics, indications for corneal transplantation, surgical techniques, and types of donor tissue (domestic/imported) were collected and retrospectively analyzed.
Penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) accounted for 97% of all corneal transplantations performed from 2000 to 2010. Although PKP was the most commonly performed type of keratoplasty throughout the study period, its proportion decreased to 88% from 2011 to 2022, while endothelial keratoplasty (EK) increased to 11.3%. The prevalence of endothelial failure as an indication for keratoplasty was higher than that of corneal opacity from 2019 to 2022. Accordingly, there was a sharp increase in the frequency of EK (34.1%) from 2019 to 2022. The study also found that the frequency of using imported donor tissues surpassed that of domestic donor tissue from 2012 onward.
This study showed that the preferred surgical techniques and indications for corneal transplantation in Korea have changed over the past 20 years. Though, PKP remains the main type of keratoplasty performed in Korea in 2022, but the frequency of EK is steadily increasing since 2016 in accordance with changing surgical indications. Corneal transplantation in Korea has been highly dependent on imported donor tissues since 2012. Heavy dependency on imported corneal tissue may affect the preference for keratoplasty techniques, which may differ from those of Western countries.