Long-term clinical outcome and satisfaction survey in patients with neurotrophic keratopathy after treatment with cenegermin eye drops or amniotic membrane transplantation

Purpose: Neurotrophic keratopathy (NK) is a degenerative corneal disease caused by damage of trigeminal innervation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical outcomes and patient-reported satisfaction of treatment with amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) or cenegermin eye drops in patients with NK. Methods: Clinical charts of patients with NK treated with AMT (group A) or cenegermin eye drops (group B), with at least 12 months of follow-up, were reviewed for demographics, medical history, corneal healing, and disease recurrence. Patient satisfaction was evaluated by a newly developed questionnaire investigating patient’s appreciation of treatment of NK (2 items) and satisfaction with NK treatment outcomes (5 items). Results: At the end of treatment, complete corneal healing was observed in 13/15 (86%) patients in group A and in 23/24 (96%) in group B. At 12 months follow-up, 6/13 patients (46%) in group A and 3/23 patients (13%) in group B showed recurrence of NK (p = 0.037). Survival analysis showed that group B remained recurrence free for a significantly longer period of time than the group A (p = 0.028). Patients in group B showed a significantly higher satisfaction when compared with patients in group A (total score: 65.7 ± 15.7 vs 47.4 ± 12.8, p = 0.003), both in terms of patients’ appreciation of treatment (78.3 ± 15.9 vs 52.2 ± 30, p = 0.020) and satisfaction with treatment outcomes (60.7 ± 21 vs 45.4 ± 13.3, p = 0.037). Conclusions: Treatment of NK with cenegermin was associated with long-term maintenance of corneal integrity and a higher degree of patient satisfaction

Corneal transplant during COVID-19 pandemic: the Italian Eye Bank national report

To investigate the impact of Coronavirus Disease-2019 lockdown on the Italian Eye Bank organization. In this national retrospective, multicentric, cohort study, data from the Italian Eye Bank during both the lockdown and the first month after the lockdown period were retrieved. We compared the Italian Eye Bank metrics with the same timeframe of 2019 and 2018. Data from 13 out of 13 (100%) Italian Eye Banks were included in the analysis. A statistically significant reduction in the number of donor corneas retrieved in 2020 was found as compared to the same period in 2019 and in 2018, respectively (2020 = 1284; 2019 = 3088; 2018 = 3221; ANOVA: p < 0.0001). Only 534 corneas have been distributed by Eye Banks during the COVID-19-lockdown period (2020 = 534; 2019 = 1220; 2018 = 1237. ANOVA: p < 0.0001). Similarly, the number of wasted corneas due to postponed or cancelled surgeries was 421, resulting in a considerable increase as compared to the previous 2 years (2020 = 421; 2019 = 67; 2018 = 84; ANOVA: p = 0.0035). Overall, 45 donor corneas were rejected in accordance with the guidance of the Italian National Health Institute Italian National Transplant Centre (CNT). SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has profoundly affected every social and medical field, including the Eye Bank procurement and distribution programs. The current data collected from all the Italian Eye Banks highlights the present and the forthcoming difficulties that the Eye Bank community is going to experience, as for the ongoing pandemic