For nearly 50 years, health care providers and patients in Iowa and
beyond have relied on the efforts of the Iowa Lions Eye Bank to help
save and restore the sense of sight.
The non-profit eye bank plays a crucial role in the procurement, processing
and distribution of human ocular tissue for corneal transplantation,
a procedure that involves exchanging the cornea of a damaged or diseased
eye with the healthy cornea of a recently deceased donor.
The cornea is the eye's outermost layer. It is the clear, dome-shaped
surface that covers the front of the eye. The cornea must remain transparent
to refract light properly so that we are able to see.
A corneal transplant can help someone who has greatly reduced vision
as a result of injury, disease or infection of the cornea.
The Iowa Lions, in association with the UI Department of Ophthalmology
under Alson E. Braley, M.D., established the Iowa Lions Eye Bank in 1955.
"
The Iowa Lions Eye Bank was the first and remains the only eye bank within
the state of Iowa," said Debra O'Meara, education coordinator
for the Iowa Lions Eye Bank. "It is also a charter member of the
Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) and rigidly follows EBAA medical
standards
as well as guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for
the processing and evaluation of ocular tissue."
The Iowa Lions Eye Bank is also one of 14 eye banks in the country
belonging to Vision Share, a consortium of eye banks dedicated to providing
mutually
beneficial support services to member eye banks and promoting the highest
achievable standards of eye donor tissue quality and donor screening
for the benefit of recipients.
According to Pat Mason, executive director of the Iowa Lions Eye Bank,
2002 eye bank statistics show that 1,371 eyes were received, with a
total of 870 corneas being provided for transplantation. The number of
transplant
corneas represented a 3.6 percent increase over 2001 statistics. Of
those corneas supplied, 298 were provided to Iowans, 208 were provided
to patients
elsewhere in the United States and 366 corneas were provided internationally.
The Iowa Lions Eye Bank also plays a crucial role in eye research.
In 2002, the eye bank provided 408 donor tissues to research on Age-Related
Macular
Degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of irreversible blindness in
the United States. AMD is a hereditary disease that usually strikes people
over age 60 by affecting the macula, a small portion of the retina
which
provides sharp, straight-ahead vision that is needed for driving and
reading. The eye bank supports research efforts to find the causes of,
treatments
for, and prevention of other eye-related diseases, including diabetic
retinopathy and glaucoma.
The eye bank operates with a large network of volunteers. The Lions
of Iowa not only assisted in founding the Iowa Lions Eye Bank, but the
nearly
14,000 members continue to support the eye bank financially, and through
awareness programs and volunteerism.
The Iowa State Patrol plays a critical role for the eye bank as they
have relayed eye tissue from virtually any location in Iowa to Iowa City
since
the eye bank's inception.
Certified enucleators (those who are trained to remove donor eyes)
are a vital link ensuring that the eye donation process is carried out
in
a timely and sensitive manner.
There are many other eye bank volunteers and supporters, including
health care professionals, chaplains and social workers, who serve as
mentors
to those who very generously make that decision to donate. The "gift
of sight" would not be possible without the commitment and dedication
of so many. |
