PREVIEW NOTES
Corneal transplants and clinical and epidemiological profiles: a descriptive and analytical study
Giovanna Karinny Pereira Cruz1, Diana Paula de Souza Rego Pinto Carvalho1, Isabelle Campos de Azevedo1, Allyne Fortes Vitor1, Viviane Euzébia Pereira Santos1, Marcos Antonio Ferreira Júnior1
1Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the distribution and clinical and epidemiological characterization of the patients on the waiting list for corneal transplants and of the patients transplanted with corneal tissue according to the time, place, and characteristics of the individuals.
Method: This is a quantitative epidemiological, cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study of quantitative approach, which will include all the patients on the waiting list and the patients transplanted with corneal tissue in a reference service in the period from 2010 to 2014. The data were collected in its entirety and two databases generated, which will be compiled and submitted to a statistical analysis using association measures (c2) and significant difference (Student’s t-test and ANOVA).
Guiding question: How do the distribution and clinical and epidemiological characterization of the corneal transplants performed in a reference service and the patients on waiting list occur according to the time, place, and characteristics of the individuals in the state of Rio Grande do Norte?
Keywords: Corneal transplantation; Free tissue flaps; Corneal diseases; Epidemiology.
PROBLEM SITUATION AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
The procedure for corneal transplants (CT) or keratoplasty, the most often performed transplantation in the world, consists of the total or partial thickness replacement of the cornea(1).
In Brazil, the main condition indicating the need for CT is the keratoconus. However, the prevalence of this disease varies according to the country owing to different public health conditions and the existing socioeconomic levels(2).
By considering these facts, this study is justified given the need for determining the variance of CT according to certain characteristics, such as gender, age, place of residence, and sickness indication conditions. This allows the identification of risk groups for prevention, besides generating a hypothesis for further investigation.
It is expected that the results of this study may contribute for a better organization and planning of the care of patients on the waiting list and the patients transplanted with corneal tissue. It is also expected that this research fosters the training of health professionals into approaching the matter, especially in nursing (as it is a little discussed matter in the area), in a way of proposing postoperative care based on the detection, attention, and prevention of complications(3).
GUIDING QUESTION
How do the distribution and clinical and epidemiological characterization of the CT performed in a reference service and the patients on waiting list occur according to the time, place, and characteristics of the individuals in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN)?
OVERALL GOALS
To determine the distribution and clinical and epidemiological characterization of the patients on the waiting list for CT in RN and the patients transplanted with corneal tissue in a reference service according to the time, place, and characteristics of the individuals.
SPECIFIC GOALS
METHOD
This is a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical, epidemiological study, which will include the patients on the waiting list for CT in RN and the patients transplanted with corneal tissue in the School Hospital Onofre Lopes (Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes – HUOL), in the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)—reference service for CT.
The research protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the UFRN, endorsement No. 876.177, according to the requirements established by the Resolution No. 466, December 12, 2012, of the Conselho Nacional de Saúde do Ministério da Saúde.
There will be two samples, sample A consisting of the data of patients registered in the Centro de Notificação e Distribuição de Órgãos (CNCDO) who were on the waiting list for CT at the moment of the data collection (n = 62). Sample B will consist of all the medical records of patients who have already gone under a CT in the HUOL between 2010 and 2014 (n = 258 CT).
The inclusion criteria are, for both samples, the data from the medical records of patients of all ages, both the gender, and regardless of the indicative clinical condition for their registration in the National Transplant System. The medical records that did not have the necessary information for the study were excluded.
The hypothesis tests will use the eye diagnosis as a dependent variable, which corresponds to the indicative condition for the CT. Moreover, independent variables will be employed: the region where the receptor lives, age, gender, race, purpose of the transplant, type of surgery, classification of the eye according to the presence or absence of the lens, vascularization, glaucoma, previous surgery, and retransplant when failure of the previous graft.
REFERENCES
1. Tan DTH, Dart JKG, Holland EJ, Kinoshita S. Corneal transplantation. Lancet. 2012;379(9827):1749-61.
2. Sobrinho EFA, Negrão BC, Almeida HG. Perfil epidemiológico de pacientes na fila de transplante penetrante de córnea no estado do Pará, Brasil. Rev Bras Oftalmol [ Internet ]. 2011 Nov/Dec [ Cited 2015 July 28 ⒚(6):384-90. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S003472802011000600009&lng=en. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-72802011000600009
3. Serra MAAO, Silva Filho FF, Albuquerque AO, Santos CAA, Carvalho Junior JF, Silva RA. Nursing care in the immediate postoperative period: a cross-sectional study. Online Braz J Nurs [ Internet ]. 2015 June [ Cited 2015 Jul 28 ③(2):161-7. Available from: http://www.objnursing.uff.br/index.php/nursing/article/view/5082. DOI: http://dx. doi.org/10.17665/1676-4285.20155082
All authors participated in the phases of this publication in one or more of the following steps, in According to the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, 2013): (a) substantial involvement in the planning or preparation of the manuscript or in the collection, analysis or interpretation of data; (b) preparation of the manuscript or conducting critical revision of intellectual content; (c) approval of the versión submitted of this manuscript. All authors declare for the appropriate purposes that the responsibilities related to all aspects of the manuscript submitted to OBJN are yours. They ensure that issues related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the article were properly investigated and resolved. Therefore, they exempt the OBJN of any participation whatsoever in any imbroglios concerning the content under consideration. All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest of financial or personal nature concerning this manuscript which may influence the writing and/or interpretation of the findings. This statement has been digitally signed by all authors as recommended by the ICMJE, whose model is available in http://www.objnursing.uff.br/normas/DUDE_eng_13-06-2013.pdf
Received: 07/26/2015
Revised: 09/10/2015
Approved: 09/10/2015