Corneal transplantation is a major procedure for treating corneal disease. In Australia, more than 1700 corneal transplants are performed each year. The one year survival rate is over 90%.
Corneal tissue can be stored using hypothermic or hyperthermic methods. With the hypothermic method, the cornea is retrieved within 12 hours of the death and is stored in Optisol at 4-8 ^oC up to 6 days. With the hyperthermic method, the tissues can be retrieved within 24 hours after the death and stored in Organ Culture Medium (OCM) at 31-35 ^oC up to 28 days.
From January to August 2011, the Lions NSW Eye Bank collected 229 donors, of which 360 corneas were transplanted.  The average donor collection rate was 28.63/month. The average cornea transplant rate was 45/month. From September 2011, Organ Culture storage commenced. The total donor numbers were 124 between September and November, of which 190 corneas were transplanted and 51.5% (98/190) were preserved in OCM. The average donor rate was 41.3/month. The average cornea transplant rate was 63.3/month. Since the implementation of Organ Culture, the donor rate has increased by 44.25% and the corneal transplantation rate has increased by 40.74% compared to the first 8 months of this year. The feedback from the transplant surgeons has been extremely positive.
The Organ Culture storage method expands the potential donor pool by both the extension of the retrieval time and the inclusion of donors with unproven sepsis. The method provides an opportunity for more people to become eye donors.