HYDERABAD: As much as 40% of corneas distributed throughout India for sight-restoring corneal transplant surgeries last year were provided by LVPEI Network Eye Banks. Since its inception in 1989, it has distributed 61,063 corneas, of which 50,000 (82%), are by the Ramayamma International Eye Bank (RIEB) at LVPEI’s Hyderabad campus. The institute also has Eye Bank facilities at its campuses in Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.
“Our goal is to ensure that the availability of quality corneal tissue does not remain a barrier in tackling corneal blindness. 1.1 million Indians suffer from corneal blindness. Corneal transplantation, using healthy corneas donated by individuals upon their death, is the only known cure for corneal blindness. LVPEI is contributing phenomenally towards ensuring the availability of quality donor tissues.
We have now expanded the scope of our activities beyond our network and have partnered with The Hans Foundation for setting up eye banks in other states of India. Two of these eye banks have been set up in Rishikesh and Guwahati. Within two years, the eye bank at Rishikesh was able to supply 194 corneas for transplantation,” shared Dr Prashant Garg, head of Eye Banking Services at LV Prasad Eye Institute.
The institute has been performing over 2000+ corneal transplant surgeries every year for the past several years. So far, over 38,655 corneal transplant surgeries (across the network) have been performed at the institute, which possibly is the highest at a single institute anywhere in the world. The cornea collection numbers stand at – 107,751
(until December 2020; corneas found unsuitable for surgeries are used for research and for training ophthalmology fellows/residents).
Quick fact
The institute has been performing over 2,000+ corneal transplant surgeries every year for the past several years.