Table of contents:
- Who can donate eyes?
- Do you have to donate whole eyeballs?
- What are the requirements for eye donors that must be met?
- Things that keep you from being an eye donor
Most Indonesians can accept blood donation as a common medical activity or procedure. In fact, some people make blood donations a regular routine because they are believed to be able to maintain body fitness. However, what about other organ donors, such as the eye? What are the requirements for an eye donor, and what is the procedure?
Who can donate eyes?
Eye donation is actually not much different from blood donation, it's just that eye donors can only be obtained from prospective donors who have passed away. The Indonesian Eye Bank does not accept eye donors from living people.
Do you have to donate whole eyeballs?
Not. This is a wrong perception. The part of the eye that was donated only the cornea, not a whole whole eyeball.
The cornea of the eye is the clear layer on the outermost part of the eye. Its function is to make light pass through the pupil and lens to focus on the retina so that the eye can see properly.
After you died and only if you have registered with Bank Mata Indonesia, then the heirs are required to notify the bank less than 6 hours after the prospective eye donor is declared dead. After that the bank will immediately send an officer to perform a small operation to take the cornea where the body is lying and only take the cornea, NOT the whole eyeball. The corneal retrieval procedure lasts less than 15 minutes.
What are the requirements for eye donors that must be met?
As reported in Bank Mata Indonesia, the following eye donor requirements must be met by donors:
- The age when he died was over 17 years old, and when he was alive he registered to be a donor sincerely without coercion from other parties
- The cause and timing of death is known
- Approved family or heirs
- The cornea of the prospective donor is clear
- Do not suffer from diseases: hepatitis, HIV, eye tumors, sepsis, syphilis, glaucoma, leukemia, and tumors that spread, such as breast cancer and cervical cancer (cervical cancer)
- Eyes should be removed less than 6 hours after death
- Minimum endothelial vitality 2000 / mm2 (confirmed by medical tests)
- To preserve clarity: 850 / mm2 (confirmed by medical tests)
- Eyes should be removed less than 6 hours after death
- Donor corneas should be used in less than 2 × 24 hours for better success rates
- Donor corneas are preserved by: refrigeration, glycerin anhydrous, humid chamber, culture media, mcKaufmann medium, or cryo preservation
Things that keep you from being an eye donor
As long as there is no serious abnormality in the cornea that can become an obstacle, you can be a candidate for the eye donor. You can register yourself at Bank Mata Indonesia online here.
As proof of registration, prospective eye donors who have been successful will receive a Candidate Eye Donor Member Card. All registration processes for prospective eye donorsFREE OF CHARGE (FREE).Psstt… Did you know that the eye transplant itself has a high success rate? The chances of a successful recipient of an eye donor being able to see again after receiving a transplant can be up to 90 percent, you know!
However, prospective donors will not have their corneas taken if:
- It is not known when and the cause of death
- Suffering from systemic and central nervous diseases caused by viruses, such as AIDS, hepatitis, cythomegalovirus, rabies, leukemia, and lymphoma malignum.
