Eye Bank Offers Tissue For New Type of Sight Saving Corneal Transplant
In January, the Heartland Lions Eye Banks began to offer corneal tissue to surgeons that is to be used in a ground-breaking new transplantation procedure called Descemet’s Autostriping Endothelial Keratoplasy, or DSAEK. The new DSAEK surgery differs from the traditional cornea transplant surgery in that only a thin section of endothelial cells from the donor cornea are transplanted, rather than the full thickness of the donor cornea. This means that for many patients who will undergo the DSAEK transplant procedure, the healing time and success rate of their transplant will be greatly improved.
In order to meet the demand for tissue for DSAEK surgeries,
HLEB has worked to develop a new procedure for offering tissue that is pre-cut for this special surgery. Traditionally, HLEB fulfills tissue requests by delivering the whole donor cornea in a storage medium to the surgeon. However, for DSAEK surgeries, HLEB will further process the donor cornea using a special instrument called a Moria microkeratome that cuts a very thin layer of endothelial cells from the cornea.
The Heartland Lions Eye Banks is one of only a few eye tissue banks currently offering this service, which is 
expected to see increased demand due to the growing popularity of the new DSAEK procedure. Already, the Eye Bank has cut 18 corneas for surgeons performing these transplants. To learn more about new procedure, we encourage you and your Lions club to attend one of our upcoming open house events at our new lab location in Kansas City. For more information, see the article to the right.
Join Us To Learn More About HLEB in February
The Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation and Heartland Lions Eye Banks will host two open house events in February to celebrate the opening of its new Kansas City office location. Our new state-of-the art lab location is home to the Eye Banks' new DSAEK cutting procedure (see article to the left). The open house events will be held on Friday, February 23 from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 24 from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Guests will be given tours of our lab and office. This will be a fantastic opportunity for Lions clubs to get to know more about the Eye Bank, talk to our staff, and meet other local Lions. Light refreshments will be served. Directions to our office at 10100 N. Ambassador Dr., Suite 200 in Kansas City, MO are available here.
Upcoming Events
March 31, 2007: Board of Directors Meeting at 9:00 a.m., Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation in Columbia. All Lions are invited to attend. For more information, Annie Kuhl 314-428-4373 ext. 107 or annie@mlerf.org.
Looking for more detailed information on our upcoming amblyopia and glaucoma screenings? Visit our screening calendar online.
The Virtual Ambassador is a publication of the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation.
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