Moorfields undertakes more than a thousand corneal transplants a year, none of which would be possible without the kindness and generosity of those who agree to be tissue donors.
Each year, hundreds of patients walk away from Moorfields having undergone a corneal transplant, or corneal graft, quite simply with “the gift of sight”. Patients like Chris Watkins, a retired broadcast journalist, who was diagnosed with Fuchs’ dystrophy, a progressive disease that affects the cornea which if left untreated can lead to blindness.
Dhivya Sivanesan who suffered for 15 years with keratoconus and was referred to Moorfields for a transplant. Their lives have simply been transformed by that all-important donor, the skill of the surgeons, and the team at the Moorfields Lions Eye Bank who retrieve and prepare the tissue for transplantation.
Frank Larkin, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon and deputy director of research at Moorfields biomedical research centre said: “Clearly the great majority of eyes which are donated supply our corneal transplants service which saves sight. However in the case of some donations, where people have suffered certain diseases, medical disorders or other general medical conditions, the risk to corneal transplantations is too great but this tissue can be used for research purposes.”
“At Moorfields there is ongoing research into numerous eye disease and inherited retinal disease and these donated eyes give us very valuable insight into many conditions because they can shed light on the disease and help to find cures.”
For more details on eye donation please click here.