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Keratoplasty |
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| What is Cornea ? |
The cornea is the clear window covering the front of the eye. It is the main focusing element of the eye. Vision will be dramatically reduced if the cornea becomes cloudy from disease.
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| What is Corneal Blindness ? |
Corneal blindness means that one's cornea, which is the transparent and thin outer layer of the eye becomes clouded due to
- Injuries
- Infections
- Nutrition deficiency especially in Childhood
- Chemical burns
- Post operative complications & infections.
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| What is a Corneal Transplantation ? |
This is a surgical procedure which replaces damaged or injured cornea with a similarly shaped piece of a healthy cornea from a donor.
Cornea is removed from the Donor Eyes
Eye After Corneal Transplantation
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| Why should Eyes be donated ? |
| There is no substitute for human tissue. The transplantation process depends upon the priceless gift of cornea donation from one human to the next. The use of artificial tissue for transplantation has been unsuccessful.
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| Why you should consider Eye Donation ? |
There are lakhs of Children and adults in India who are blind. They know only one color BLACK. If you donate your eyes, you are giving vision to two blind people and making their life self dependent and joyful.
The gift of sight that will dramatically improve the quality of life for a person who has otherwise lived a life of total darkness.
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| Where are we in Corneal Transplantation ? |
There is a severe lack of donor eyes in India and only 5,000 operations are being performed every year, while more than 30,000 new victims are added each year to the total list of 7 lakhs patients to be cured. In spite of having professional surgeons, corneal transplantation cannot be carried out due to lack of donor corneas. In India there are more than 80 lakh deaths every year but sadly the corneal donations do not exceed a few thousand.
The reason for this may be
- Lack of awareness in General public
- Improper development of infrastructure in villages
- Absence of motivation even among the trained personnel
- Social & religious taboos.
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| Who can Donate Eyes ? |
Anyone can donate eyes. It does not matter even if you
- - Have undergone any eye surgery
- - Poor Eyesight
- - Wear glasses
- - Diabetic
- - Hypertensive
- - Extremes of Age
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| What should be the Age of the Donor ? |
| There is no limit for Age. Eyes from all the age groups can be used for transplantation.
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| Can a living person donate his eyes ? |
| No, Eyes are not taken from a living person. It can only be removed after death. Anybody can pledge to However, donate his eyes and his wish can be fulfilled by his kin after his demise.
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| What part of the eye is transplanted ? |
| Although the entire eye is removed from the body, it is only the CORNEA that can be transplanted.
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| Will eye donation affect the appearance of the donor ? |
| No, Artificial eyes can be fitted in place so no disfigurement of the body will be there.
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| Does eye donation cause delay in the funeral process ? |
| No, because time required for removal of eyes is only 15 minutes. Moreover eye bank personnel come to a place wherever the body of the deceased is kept. The body need not be shifted to Eye Bank.
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| How successful is corneal transplantation ? |
| Over 90% of all corneal transplant operations successfully restore the corneal recipient's vision.
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| What happens if corneas are not suitable for transplant ? |
| Donors and eyes are carefully evaluated. If your corneas are found to be unsuitable for surgery, the sclera (or white part of the eye) may still be suitable for Donation.
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| INSTRUCTIONS FOR EYE DONATION PROCEDURE |
- Inform the nearest Eye Bank by Phone (0253-2579791,0253-2315342) immediately as the eyes have to be removed within 6 hours after death.
- The donor need not be taken to the Eye bank. The Eye bank team will come to take the eyes at no cost to the donor or family.
- Place wet cotton with ice over the closed eye lids. It will keep the tissue moist.
- Raise Head with a pillow.
- Switch off the fans
- The Eye Bank personnel visit donor's home. The eyes are removed by a trained person using sterile procedure. Artificial eyes are fitted in place to ensure no scar or disfigurement of the face
- 10 cc of blood sample is also collected from the donor for testing.
- On reaching the Eye bank, the 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.
- The recipient of cornea will always remain anonymous but the donor family should be happy
knowing that the eyes have been used to restore the vision of two blind persons.
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