Old and young cornea donor tissue equally effective, according to study

Rochester, NY-University of Rochester researchers recently put to test the bias against corneas from older donors. In the Cornea Donor Study it was found that corneal transplants using tissue from older donors has the same survival rate as that of younger donors.

 "The Cornea Donor study was a prospective 5-year study, which followed 1,100 cornea patients, and they were divided into two groups: donors under the age of 65 and donors that were 66 and older," said Edward Holland, MD, director, Cornea Services at the Cincinnati Eye Institute and professor of ophthalmology at the University of Cincinnati.

This finding is significant because it gives more options to help patients improve their sight, according to researchers.