CLEVELAND, OH — The National Eye Institute has granted $6.4 million for five-year research conducted by researchers from Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, and the Jaeb Center for Health Research.
Keratoplasty, more commonly referred to as corneal transplant, has gained more and more attention over the last decade.
About a third of corneal transplants in the United States involve individuals diagnosed with diabetes who donate their corneas after death. However, the medical community has concluded that not all corneas taken from diabetics patients could be used for the procedure.
National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health has granted $6.4 million for a five-year project to focus on this very issue. The team comprises researchers from three universities, namely Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, and the Jaeb Center for Health Research.
The study aims to answer the question: “Which diabetic patients should and can successfully donate their corneas for keratoplasty?”
“This is an important question that should be answered. Doing so will have a major impact on eye-banking and keratoplasty practices,” said Jonathan Lass, Charles I Thomas Professor and vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and director of University Hospitals Eye Institute Eye Image Analysis Reading Centers.
The cornea is the clear outer layer located at the front of the eye that helps focus light. The number of corneal transplants nationally decreased around 20% in 2020 because of the pandemic but is now gradually recovering, according to the Eye Bank Association of America.
The answer to the question of which donors are suitable has been becoming more important. Recent eye-bank data suggest diabetic corneal donors comprise 30% to 35% of the cornea donor pool, a 50% to 72% increase in just over 10 years. The growing number of diabetic patients causes the rise.
The study will examine 1,420 donors and over 1,000 patients. Two-thirds of the donors will be non-diabetic, and the rest are diabetic. It will constantly monitor diabetes in the recipient to understand how that may influence the success of transplants.
The final purpose is to help the eye-banking and surgical communities on the safety and effectiveness of corneal transplant surgeries from donors with diabetic records.