SEPTEMBER 2021 | EYEWORLD | 77
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additional tissue," he said, noting that his
first study looked at around 130 donor tissue
samples. "We want to expand to look at more
so we can better understand how much tissue
involvement there is because perhaps if we
have enough data, we can say just because
someone is exposed doesn't automatically mean
they can't be a donor." That might improve the
ability to supply healthy donor tissue to those
who need it.
"We're looking at testing more so we can
understand the prevalence better, as well as
more safely identify donors who can help recip-
ients," Dr. Mian. He added that it's also import-
ant to look at how these numbers are impacting
overall supply and demand in the U.S. and if
there are certain demographics that are impact-
ed more.
At this point, Dr. Mian said there is a short-
age of supply, even in the U.S. The U.S. is the
largest provider of corneal tissue, he added.
Nationally, looking at the EBAA data, it
seems like there is still hesitancy for some
patients to have surgery, Dr. Mian said, so the
demand is at about 85% of what it was prior to
COVID-19.
Overall, Dr. Mian said the shortage in tissue
is most noticeable globally. Prior to COVID-19,
there were 50,000–55,000 corneal transplants
per year. "The amount of tissue we could collect
was about 85,000, so there was around 30,000
available to export," Dr. Mian. "It's drastically
reduced globally to many parts of the world
where they're unable to have a good enough
system to retrieve corneas on their own."
Looking forward
Dr. Mian said that there are more studies in
this area. "We're continuing work to look at
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