The corneal transplant score: a simple corneal graft candidate calculator.

BACKGROUND: Shortage of corneas for transplantation has created long waiting lists in most countries. Transplant calculators are available for many organs. The purpose of this study is to describe a simple automatic scoring system for keratoplasty recipient candidates, based on several parameters that we consider most relevant for tissue allocation, and to compare the system's accuracy in predicting decisions made by a cornea specialist.
METHODS: Twenty pairs of candidate data were randomly created on an electronic spreadsheet. A single priority score was computed from the data of each candidate. A cornea surgeon and the automated system then decided independently which candidate in each pair should have surgery if only a single cornea was available.
RESULTS: The scoring system can calculate values between 0 (lowest priority) and 18 (highest priority) for each candidate. Average score value in our randomly created cohort was 6.35 ± 2.38 (mean ± SD), range 1.28 to 10.76. Average score difference between the candidates in each pair was 3.12 ± 2.10, range 0.08 to 8.45. The manual scoring process, although theoretical, was mentally and emotionally demanding for the surgeon. Agreement was achieved between the human decision and the calculated value in 19 of 20 pairs. Disagreement was reached in the pair with the lowest score difference (0.08).
CONCLUSIONS: With worldwide donor cornea shortage, waiting for transplantation can be long. Manual sorting of priority for transplantation in a long waiting list is difficult, time-consuming and prone to error. The suggested system may help achieve a justified distribution of available tissue.