FAQs

Q. Can living persons donate his eye for transplantation? Ans: Theoretically, he can. But in practice eyes from living persons are never taken. Eyes taken from dead persons within 6 hours of death are as good as eyes taken from living persons. That’s why there is no point in taking eyes from a living person. Q. For how many hours the eyes remain good in a dead person? Ans: About 6-8 hours. When eye donation is contemplated the dead person’s eyes should be closed, Ice packing should be done over the closed eyelids. The electric fans should be put off. Q. How long the eyes can be preserved after these are taken out from the dead body? Ans: In modern storage method where M.K. Media is used, the cornea can be preserved up to 4 days. In USA cornea can be preserved for 14 days in optisol media. Q. What is transplanted-the whole eye or a part of it? Ans: A part of it and that part is called cornea. Actually the term “Eye transplantation” is never used” Corneal transplantation” or Keratoplasty are the right words. Like Kidney, heart or liver transplantation, the idea of removing a blind eye and transplanting it with a healthy one is not done. Q. What is done in Corneal Transplantation? Ans: Here the diseased and opacified cornea is removed and into its place, the healthy cornea from the dead person’s eye is transplanted. Q. Can any blind person be benefited from this surgery? Ans: Obviously not. Only those persons who are blind due to diseased cornea get the benefit of corneal transplantation. Q. How does the cornea get opacified? Ans: Infections like corneal ulcer, injury by sharp weapons, crackers, acid and alkali burns, Vitamin A deficiency in Childhood &diseases like Keratoconus, corneal dystrophies cause corneal blindness. Q. Why people don’t see when the cornea is diseased? Ans: The cornea is the window of the eye. The cornea, with the help of the lens, direct the rays of lights to focused at the retina for proper image formation. When the cornea is opaque due to diseases, the rays of light won’t be able to pass through it to form images at the retina. Naturally, the person will not see anything. Q. Suppose a person has died of AIDS. Are his eyes good enough for transplantation? Ans: No, not only AIDS, those who die in diseases like Hepatitis B, Rabies, Septicaemia, Cancer of the eyes etc, are also not eligible for eye donation. Moreover, anybody whose cause of death is not known also does not qualify. Q What about other diseases? Ans: Other than the above mentioned five disease people die of any other diseases like Diabetes, TB, Cancer, Stroke can donate their eyes. Q. Is there any age limit for eye donation? Ans: There is no age limit. After the age of 80 some ageing changes take place in the corneas, making them unsuitable for transplantation. However, eyes from such persons are still taken. These are examined under Specular Microscope and if found suitable, transplanted if not, used for research work. Q. Would the donor’s family members know to whom the eyes were transplanted? Ans: No. This is strictly kept secret. The family should not insist on knowing it.