THE CORNEA

The is the front part of the eye (actually a transplant structure). It can be described as the WINDOW of the eye or the WINDSCREEN of the eye, it becomes opaque in diseases such as in post measles conjunctivitis which was badly treated, trauma, trachoma, small pox and some other conditions. When opacification occurs, it is impossible for light to pass through the opaque cornea into the eye and consequently, the afflicted person cannot see – cornea blind.

WHAT IS AN EYE BANK AND WHY IS IT NECESSARY

The cornea is highly perishable and literally dissolved soon after death. It means that to be able to use it for cornea transplant, the cornea must be removed as soon as the donor passes away and granted to the recipient eye. It is impossible to determine the time of death of anyone. Second, several miles often separate the donor and the recipient on one hand, and the recipient and the ophthalmologist carrying out the procedure on the other hand. In many cases, the timing may also not be suitable for the procedure and may have to be delayed until more agreeable period. Occasionally, there are more donors than recipients all these means if there were no storage facilities, many cornea that could not be used immediately would have to be thrown away. This is what gave birth to the concept of EYE BANK. An Eye Bank is a storage place in which cornea tissue removed from donors soon after death can be preserved until they can be used by the surgeon (ophthalmologist).

WHAT IS CORNEA TRANSPLANT CENTRE?

A cornea transplant center is a dedicated arm of the Eye Hospital devoted exclusively to the following:
• Evaluation of donor materials to determine their suitability for grafting.
• Training of Assistants who will harvest cornea from cadavers.
• Provision of surgical skills needed for cornea grafting.
• Organizing training of Ophthalmic Fellows in corneal transplant and post-transplant management.
• Provision of post-operative care for corneal transplant patients and management complications arising from corneal transplant.