{
  "abstract": "Purpose For many people cornea donation is a gift for life and a chance for a new beginning. In Germany, many people do not know that tissue donation have other requirements than organ donation – a cornea donation can be realized up to 72 hours after cardiovascular death. Until now, cornea donation was focusing on deceased donors in hospitals, although, in Germany, only around 50% of all deaths occur in clinics. However, in the domestic environment, palliative care facilities, nursing homes or hospices cornea donations are also feasible. An exemplary data analysis by DGFG shows that these outpatient donations make a valuable contribution to patient care.Methods Since 2013, all tissue donations in the DGFG network have been documented in an electronic database. This data collection served as the basis for this analysis. The study period runs from October 2013 to December 2023. In total 29 outpatient cornea donations were considered regarding donor age, time of collection, corneal quality (based on endothelial cell density = ECD) and transplantation rate and were compared with the total number of cornea donations realized in hospitals in 2023 (3,033).Results Of 57 corneas collected from the 29 outpatients, 45 were transplanted after processing, which corresponds to a transplantation rate of 79% and is slightly higher than the transplantation rate of 73% for clinical cornea donations in 2023. The time from death to tissue collection for the donation from outpatients was 17 hours on average and therefore shorter than for clinical cornea donations with 30 hours. This earlier collection could be due to a faster donor notification and a faster clarification of willingness to donate. With an average ECD of 2,558 cells/mm2 and a donor age of 67.9 years, the characteristics of outpatient donations are similar to those of clinical cornea donations (ECD 2,472 cells/mm2, age 70.2 years).Conclusion If there is a will to donate tissue, this can also be realized in the outpatient area. Outpatient cornea donations are important for patient care, as high-quality tissue can also be obtained in these cases: A will formulated and documented while the patient is still alive and a fast notification enables early tissue collection, which can have a positive impact on the transplantation rate. If more palliative and care facilities were integrated into donation practice, the number of donations could be increased, and patient care further improved.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "German Society for Tissue Transplantation (DGFG – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gewebetransplantation), Hannover, Germany"
      ],
      "name": "Kristin Kleinhoff"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "German Society for Tissue Transplantation (DGFG – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gewebetransplantation), Hannover, Germany"
      ],
      "name": "Nicola Hofmann"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "German Society for Tissue Transplantation (DGFG – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gewebetransplantation), Hannover, Germany"
      ],
      "name": "Jan Kniese"
    }
  ],
  "title": "1.6. Last will: tissue donation. An evaluation of cornea donations of outpatients in the German society for tissue transplantation (DGFG) network",
  "uid": "19bbfdaa-2dbf-51d0-87aa-16361111421c"
}