Donor age as a predictor of cornea transplant success

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between donor age and cornea transplant success.

This retrospective cohort study comprised 116 patients who had cornea transplants performed for the first time. The primary analysis was performed to evaluate the time to graft failure as a function of donor age. Donor age was divided into 3 categories: (1) continuous, (2) younger than 65 versus 65 years and older, and (3) younger than 60 versus older than 70 years. We controlled for other variables that may affect graft outcome by multivariate modeling. The primary outcome was graft failure.

No statistically significant association was found between time to failure and donor age [adjusted hazard ratio: 1.004 (p = 0.68) for continuous age, 1.18 (p = 0.68) for age < 65 vs. > or = 65 years, and 2.10 (p = 0.089) for age < 60 vs. > 70 years]. However, with all model-building strategies, our results demonstrated that all hazard ratios calculated were greater than 1.00 for the older versus the younger aged groups.

The influence of donor age on success of cornea transplants remains unresolved. Large, multicentre prospective cohort studies and randomized trials are needed to decisively determine the impact of donor age on cornea transplant success.