Associated Registries

The Swedish Corneal Transplant Register

Registry Manager	Margareta Claesson
Steering group	Margareta Claesson, Per Fagerholm, Ulf Stenevi, Berit Byström, John Armitage (co-opted advisor), Jesper Hjortdal, Eva Wendel.
Address	Swedish Corneal Transplant Registry Margareta Claesson Department of Ophthalmology S/U Mölndal SE-431 80 Mölndal Sweden
Website	www.eyenetsweden.se

The Swedish Corneal Transplant Registry started in 1996. Its overall purpose is to provide a national basis for audit of individual corneal transplant units in Sweden. Specific aims include:

• Documenting the reasons for corneal transplants and monitoring changing indications
• Recording transplant outcome both in terms of graft function and visual outcome
• Monitoring and analysing unexpected outcomes
• Recording adverse events
• Documenting eye bank activity and the level of eye donation

All seven corneal transplant units in Sweden contribute to the registry. Since it began, approximately 90% of all corneal transplants carried out in Sweden have been reported to the registry.

Data are reported to the registry on standard forms, agreed by the participating surgeons.

Data are collected at the time of surgery, recording basic patient information, including pre-operative visual status, the indication for transplantation, the primary reason for transplantation (to improve vision or for other reasons), the presence of risk factors likely to influence the graft outcome, the supplying eye bank and the donor cornea reference number. Follow-up data are provided after two years when it is likely that all sutures have been removed, refractive surgery (where appropriate) performed, and stable refraction achieved. Post-operative complications, visual acuity and astigmatism are recorded.

An annual meeting of participating surgeons is held to feedback overall results and analyses of the data, and to provide an opportunity for discussion and planning the further aims of the registry. Data for individual units, compared with the national data, are also be made available. The Swedish National Board of Health & Welfare is informed of the results for publication in their annual report from all of the Swedish quality of healthcare registries. Publications are also prepared for academic and medical journals and for presentation at relevant meetings.