Evaluation of microbial contamination of corneal transplants: one-year report from a French regional eye bank.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to report the rate of corneal transplant microbial contamination in a single major eye bank and to identify the contributive factors.

Methods: The contamination rate of 1156 organ-cultured corneas harvested in 2010 in a single eye bank (EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Besançon, France) was studied together with the following factors: age, sex, tissue-recovery method (single or multiorgan donors), death-to-excision time, excision-to-reception time, cause of death, positive serology, and endothelial cell count. Student t test for quantitative data was used for statistical comparisons between groups.