Andalusian Public Eye-Banks: a decade of continuous improvement

To show donation data, number of keratoplasties and the changes in transplant indications and techniques that occurred in Andalusia in the period from 2013 to 2022. The present work is a retrospective and descriptive study that included all keratoplasties performed between January 2013 and December 2022 in Andalusia, as well as the evolution of the cornea donation and transplant activity of the public and private hospitals pertaining to the waiting list management system of the Public Health System of Andalusia. Transplants performed in private centers with corneas from outside Andalusia were excluded. Cornea donation activity in Andalusia in the decade 2013−2022 has experienced a growth of more than 126%, while overall transplant activity has increased by 157% in public hospitals. Penetrating keratoplasty has decreased from 83% in 2013 to 43% in 2022, while lamellar techniques have increased from 17% to 57% in this same period. Since 2018, more lamellar transplants are performed than penetrating transplants. Regarding indications, endothelial conditions already represent the first cause of transplantation. In 2022 alone, the public Andalusian Eye Banks evaluated 1,054 corneas and prepared 281 endothelial grafts. In the decade from 2013 to 2022 in Andalusia there has been an increase in donation activity and the number of keratoplasties. The public Eye Banks implementation in this period has played a key role in the widespread adoption of lamellar keratoplasty techniques and has enabled the transition to perform a greater number of lamellar keratoplasties compared to penetrating keratoplasty. Mostrar los datos de donación, número de queratoplastias y cambios en las indicaciones y técnicas de trasplante ocurridas en Andalucía en la década 2013−2022, en los que la implantación de los Bancos de ojos ha tenido un papel clave. El presente trabajo corresponde a un estudio retrospectivo y descriptivo que incluyó todas las queratoplastias, así como la evolución de la actividad de donación y trasplante de córneas entre enero de 2013 y diciembre de 2022 en los hospitales públicos y privados adscritos al sistema de gestión de lista de espera del Sistema Sanitario Público de Andalucía. Quedaron excluidos los trasplantes en centros privados realizados con córneas de fuera de Andalucía. La actividad de donación de córneas en Andalucía en la década 2013−2022 ha experimentado un crecimiento superior al 126%, mientras que la actividad de trasplante global se incrementó un