PURPOSE: To define the main factors related with cornea non-donation of potential donors in a University Hospital of Curitiba. METHODS: The potential corneal donators who died at the I.C.U and at Emergency Section at Hospital Universitário Evangélico de Curitiba (HUEC) between November 2007 and February 2008 were selected. A close relative was interviewed by telephone, following a standard interview protocol. RESULTS: The most significant result was that from the 64 relatives interviewed, 60 (93.75%) had not been approached about the organ donation. From the same group, 32 (53.33%) would have consented the corneal donation if the approach had been performed. CONCLUSION: The low number of relatives approaches by physicians at the time of death was the main handicap in the process of corneal donation permission.
Corneal transplantation; Tissue and organ procurement; Tissue donors; Eye banks; Informed consent
