Article Contributed by Dr. Arshia Matin and Dr. Vinay Nangia

Cornea is the clear transparent tissue covering the front of the eye. It, along with the lens is critical for focusing the light rays onto the retina. Injury, disease or infection of the cornea results in it becoming cloudy and loosing its transparency. This reduces vision .

Causes of cloudy cornea:

• Injury
• Malnutrition such as Vitamin A deficiency
• Infections
• Chemical burns, commonly lime and acid burns
• Birth trauma

Any red eye, foreign body sensation, watering and photophobia should be taken seriously and an eye-specialist consulted immediately. Once the cornea looses its transparency, sight is lost.
Fortunately, this lost sight can be restored by the microsurgical procedure of corneal transplantation through donated eyes.

In India there are approximately 40 lakh people who are blind due to corneal problems. Of these 60% are children. Replacing the sick cornea with a healthy cornea can cure their blindness. This is possible only if people donate their eyes after death. Eye donation by one person gives sight to two corneally blind persons.

Eye Donation:
Just as donation of money, food, clothing or any such article is made to the needy, one can pledge to donate his eyes after death.
Donating eyes is different from the traditional ritual donations, but they are more purposeful, effective and meaningful. The memory of the dead can be kept alive in a very pleasant manner – through the eyes of someone who could not see.

For corneal transplant, the whole eye is not removed. Only a small part of the centre of the eyeball, the clear transparent tissue is removed. Externally, the appearance of the face of the deceased remains unaltered. Holes do not exist in the place of eyes as people often think.

Who can donate eyes?

• People of any age
• Spectacle wearers
• Patients with diabetes
• Hypertensive patients
• People suffering from systemic disorders like asthma
• Patients who have undergone cataract surgery

You can pledge to donate your eyes during your life-time to your nearest Eye Bank. Suraj Eye Institute has a well-equipped eye bank with facilities for corneal transplantation. Forms for eye donation are available at the Institute itself.

Collection of eyes:
Eyes have to be removed within 6 hours of time of death; the earlier it is done the better, more so during the summer months. Therefore no time should be lost in informing the nearest eye bank.
This can be done irrespective of whether the deceased had pledged his/her eyes or not.
While eye bank personnel reach the collection site, keep the eyelids of the deceased closed and place wet cotton with ice over them. This helps in keeping the cornea moist. Raise the head with a pillow. Keep the fans switched off. Coolers can be kept running as they help restore corneal moisture.
The eye bank staff with a doctor or trained technician visits the donor’s home. This is done free. The eyes are removed using sterile procedure. It leaves no scar or disfigurement of the face.
Also 10 cc of blood sample is collected from the donor for testing.

Corneal Transplantation:
On reaching the eye bank, tissues are examined, processed and used for corneal transplant operation as early as possible.
The needy patients are contacted in accordance with the waiting list at the eye bank.
The recipient of cornea will always remain anonymous.

Conclusion:
Eye banking in India was started way back in 1944 but till date the level of public awareness has remained low. There is still a long list of corneal blind people waiting for corneal transplants. With the number of donors falling far short of the number of blind, the list is growing year by year.