MEETING THE FAMILY, AN IMPORTANT STEP IN EYE PROCUREMENT

Background Since bioethic laws were promulgated in France in 1994, pos t-mortem cornea procurement can be achieved only after donor's family consent. In order to fulfil this task we set up a group of individuals including ophthalmologists and members of the coordination ream. The aim of this study was to establish the efficiency of such a group and to evaluate the content of donor's family interview. Methods During th is 14-month prospective study, we analyzed all the interviews we perfo rmed with donor families. To report these interviews, we used a preest ablished questionnaire. Results We met 60 families during this study. Procurement rate was 80 %. This acceptance was mostly facilitated by a dvanced mean donors age (65 years) and by the 12-hour period of time a llowed after donor's death. The other important factors were the terms of the interviews the commitment for a perfect anatomical restoration . We noticed that usually (83 %), the family was not aware of donor's last will and had unfortunately to make a choice. Accepting to wait fo r a final decision helped getting a positive response (86 %) and even sometimes helped to reconsider a previous negative position (10 %). Co nclusion Because of a dramatic lack of corneal grafts in France, more than 7000 patients are on a waiting list. Our results show that positi ve response can be obtained from the donor's family when a trained gro up manages the donation request. We strongly suggest that each eye ban k create such a group.