Last year, 1,062 donors made 2,121 corneas available, with 788 surgeries performed. Future objectives include the increase in locations where tissue donation can be made and the reduction of waiting times to carry out an operation
January 6, 2024 – Un act of great generosity, which can radically change the lives of many people for the better. A gesture of altruism which can help those who are blind due to pathologies that compromise corneal transparency and functionality regain their sight.
The year we just left behind recorded the new historical record for donations of corneas and eye transplants in Emilia-Romagna.
In 2023 – attested by the data released by the regional Cornea Bank, which is based at the Ospedale Maggiore in Bologna – there were 1.062 (+18.7%) the donors who gave their availability 2,121 corneas (+18.8%) for the execution of 788 transplants (+20%) which made it possible to restore sight to hundreds of people.
“An extraordinary goal achieved by our healthcare system – underlines the regional councilor for health policies, Raffaele Donini– which testifies to the great sensitivity of our fellow citizens combined with the professionalism of all the staff – doctors, nurses and social and healthcare workers – who do their utmost every day to serve others. An achievement resulting from the commitment made by the collaborators of the Transplant Reference Center of Emilia-Romagna which for more than 20 years has been promoting, in collaboration with voluntary associations, the regional campaign “A conscious choice” which, among the many activities, aims above all to reach children in schools”.
Donations and transplants
Returning to the numbers, the record of donations and transplants in 2023 confirms an ever-increasing trend, with the exception of the 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic which recorded only 513 donors and 372 transplants performed. From the 2021 the data is growing again with 1,581 corneas made available from 792 donors and 448 transplants. Even better in 2022with 1,786 corneas received from 895 donors and 657 transplants performed.
Among the emblematic cases to be reported in 2023, that of one 80 year old woman, who died at the end of the year, who donated her corneas, suitable for transplantation. The younger donor instead it was a three year old boy whose parents, with a gesture of extraordinary generosity, chose to donate his organs and tissues, including the corneas, which were transplanted into a child of the same age suffering from Peters syndrome in both eyes, a congenital malformation of the front of the eye.
In Emilia-Romagna, thanks to the coordination of the Regional Transplant Center, there are more than thirty hospitals participating in the regional program for cornea donation. Future objectives include increasing the number of locations where corneas can be donated and reducing waiting times for a transplant.