Eye Bank

Eye Bank, organ transplant center where tissues from human eyes are donated and stored until needed to restore vision in patients with certain forms of blindness, eye injury, or disease (see Medical Transplantation).

An eye bank receives eyes from donors who have died. A donor’s eyes are removed by a surgeon and placed in a special sterile solution, ideally within six hours of death. The eyes are then transported immediately to the nearest eye bank. At the eye bank, each eye is placed in an antibacterial bath, then examined by microscope for defects in the cornea (the clear, outer window of the eye) such as scars or clouding. To ensure public safety, blood tests are conducted to determine that a donated eye is free from disease-causing organisms such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and hepatitis B. An eye unsuitable for human transplant is often used for medical research, perfecting new surgical techniques, or medical education.

A whole eye is not transplanted. Instead, surgeons remove healthy tissue from the donated eye. The tissue usually removed is the cornea, which is used to correct vision loss resulting from a birth defect or from swelling or scarring of the cornea caused by infection, burns, or a blow to the head. Vision is restored successfully in about 90 percent of the corneal transplant surgeries performed in the United States. Sclera (the white tissue in the eye) is removed from a donor eye for use in cataract surgery and reconstructive surgery. Vitreous humor (the clear gel that fills the back of the eyeball and holds the retina in place) is used to repair detached retinas.

The first successful cornea transplant reportedly was performed in New York City in 1941, and the first eye bank in the United States—the Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration, Inc.—was established there in 1945. The nonprofit Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) was organized by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (an organization for physicians specializing in diseases of the eye) in 1961. EBAA has member eye banks in the majority of U.S. states, Canada, India, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. As the oldest transplant organization, EBAA has developed medical and ethical standards for receiving and distributing donated eyes, and programs for training technicians in eye-transplant techniques. These standards and programs have been used as models for other organ transplant organizations.