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PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVE: Substantial changes likely in eye banking, corneal transplantation community
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The Eye Bank Association of America was founded in 1961. It remains the major organization representing eye banking in the world. There is also an International Federation of Eye Banks. The EBAA mission includes eye bank and technician certification, education, support of research and development, and advocacy with federal and state government regulatory agencies.
I have been involved with the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank (MLEB) since 1972 when I was a medical student doing research on corneal preservation with the now deceased Donald J. Doughman, MD. I continue to serve the MLEB today as an associate medical director. I have served two terms on the EBAA board of directors. I have received the R. Townley Paton Award and the National Ambassadors for Corneal Transplant Award and given the Castroviejo Lecture. I remain an active corneal surgeon and serve on the board of directors of SightLife Surgical, a new for-profit company dedicated to supporting innovation in the cornea field in partnership with SightLife and other not-for-profit eye banks committed to the mission of eradicating treatable corneal blindness worldwide by 2040. Optisol GS, which remains the most popular corneal preservation media in the world, was developed in my laboratory, and I hold patents on its formulations and the methods for its use, which have been licensed to Bausch + Lomb. Bottom line, I am quite immersed in eye banking, keratoplasty and promoting innovation in the cornea field.
In the following paragraphs I would like to share a few thoughts on the future of eye banking and keratoplasty. Several of my thoughts will be somewhat controversial, but my mind is one that is always looking to the future.
Corneal preservation, eye banking and keratoplasty have been a part of my life for 45 years. As a resident in ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota, I harvested eyes in the morgue, and the corneal preservation method was to place a couple of Neosporin drops on the whole globe, place it in a small jar with a moist piece of gauze at the bottom and put the jar in a refrigerator, in many cases — to the dismay of my wife and children — often initially at my home. With this so-called “moist chamber” method of corneal preservation, a transplant needed to be performed in 24 to 48 hours at the longest, so most were done as emergencies in the middle of the night.
- Click here to read the full publication exclusive, Lindstrom's Perspective, published in Ocular Surgery News U.S. Edition, July 25, 2017.