CREATION OF PRIORITY CRITERIA FOR CORNEAL TRANSPLANTATION AND ANALYSIS OF FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SURGERY FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION

Purpose: We sought to test the effectiveness and application of a syst em for prioritizing corneal disease patients for corneal transplantati on. Methods: All patients wait-listed for corneal transplantation in B ritish Columbia in April 1995 were followed for 10 months to determine whether they received surgery and to assess the application of recent ly introduced priority criteria. Results: The factors that determined whether a patient had surgery were as follows: having vision in one ey e only, being female, having progressive disease, and experiencing pai n. The surgeon involved was also a factor. Overall, the priority syste m did not adequately predict who had surgery and who did not have surg ery. Conclusions: The priority system needs to be re-structured to red uce the contribution of months waited and to more adequately take into account patient need. Furthermore, its application by individual surg eons needs to be strengthened.