Department of Ophthalmology;

Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital
and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Sion Mumbai

Department of Ophthalmology, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Sion has its Eye Bank.  It caters to the Eye Donation calls received from nearby localities and Hospital. The department runs Hospital Cornea Retrieval Program, under which the corneas are collected from the donors’ eyes after death.

Procedure followed: When the Eye bank receives a call for eye donation, the preliminary information about the donor is collected like Name, Age, Address, Mobile No. of relatives, Date, time and place of death, Cause of death, Medical history of patient. The close relatives of the deceased person are motivated for eye donation of the deceased and counseled by Grief Counsellor. When they are ready for eye donation of the deceased, written consent is obtained from them. In medicolegal cases, authorization form is filled up.

In situ cornea retrieval is done under aseptic precautions. Blood is collected for examination to rule out communicable diseases.

The corneas collected are examined and if found suitable for transplantation, they are distributed to the needy waiting to get cornea in case of corneal blindness. Distribution is done as per the common waiting list of Govt of Maharashtra.

DOs   and DONTs ABOUT EYE DONATION

1) The eye bank should be called on telephone soon after death, so that the cornea can be collected within six hours of death.

2) Close the eyes lids of the deceased gently and cover them with moist cotton.

3) Raise the deceased head using a pillow.

4) Switch off the fans, but keep the air conditioner on.

5) If available, put antibiotic eye drops in the eyes every 15 minutes.

6) Keep a copy of cause of death certificate ready

7) Next of kin/ Close relative of the deceased should be available to sign the consent

Contact No. 022 24063000     Ext Ward No 2

Work done: Corneas collected in year 2018: 336