Epidemiological Profile of Patients Undergoing Urgent Corneal Transplant in a Referral Center in Northeastern Brazil
Giovanna Karinny Pereira Cruza b✉, S.B. da Silvab, Isabelle Campos de Azevedob, D.P.S.R.P. Carvalhob, Priscila Fernandes Meirelesb, Marcos Antônio Ferreira Júniorb, Allyne Fortes Vítorb
- aDepartment of Nursing, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil. Electronic address: giovannakarinny@gmail.com
- bDepartment of Nursing, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil
- ✉Corresponding author
Papers open inside SciRah from the original publisher or repository; SciRah never hosts them.
Abstract
Background: The purpose of the study was to characterize the epidemiological profile and average time on the waiting list of patients undergoing an urgent corneal transplantation (CT) in a referral center in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil. Methods: This cross-sectional study included cases of urgent corneal transplants performed in a referral center from January 2010 to December 2014. Data were collected between January and March 2015. Results: Seventy-four cases of emergency CT were analyzed. Of these, 69.4% were male, over the age range from 8 to 92 years. There were 38 transplants occurring in the right eye, 55.4% with tectonic purpose, 25.7% with optical purpose, and 18.9% therapy purpose. The main indications for patient inclusion in an emergency were the perforation (52.7%) and corneal ulcer unresponsive to medical treatment (33.8%). Interstitial keratitis was the most common diagnosis (74.3%), responsible for all prioritized cases in line for corneal ulcer unresponsive to treatment. The average length of the waiting line to perform the urgent CT was 9.03 days. Conclusions: In this study, there was a predominance of male patients and patients >50 years old, which corroborates the results of other studies with similar results. Perforation was the main indication to include the patient on the urgency list (52.7%). There is a need for further research to improve public health policies on the process of corneal transplantation as well as raising awareness of the importance of organ donation.
TL;DRThere was a predominance of male patients and patients >50 years old, which corroborates the results of other studies with similar results, and there is a need for further research to improve public health policies on the process of corneal transplantation. (Semantic Scholar)