Is it really possible to donate your eyes?

Mags

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I recently checked out my older brother's license, and on the back it said

"On my death I would like to donate...." There were all the vital organs like the heart, lungs, kidney, etc. then I saw that "Eyes" were there too. Is it even possible to donate eyes? I thought that all damaged nerves are usually beyond repair so isnt removing eyes and reinserting new ones impossible?
 

powernoodle

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I lived in a funeral home for a few years, and have seen it all. You can donate your corneas, and maybe other parts of the eye like the lens. It is very creepy to see, frankly, as someone comes to the funeral home and removes the entire center of the eye - cornea, pupil and lens, leaving a gaping hole. I happened to know the donor, and it was thundering outside, which added to the creepiness. I wasn't aware that such things could be done that long after death, but thats what I saw. Not fun to see, but others' lives are greatly improved because of it.

best regards
 

James S

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corneal transplants, I believe, were actually some of the first tissue to be successfully transplanted. Because the metabolism or activity or whatever of that tissue is so low, it doesn't suffer nearly as badly from rejection problems as other things.

As far as any other parts, I don't know /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

greenLED

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I thought it was only corneal tissue...
I'm on the donor list. Might as well help other people instead of wasting useful tissue "6 feet under" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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daloosh

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The only part to be transplanted is the cornea, though when they harvest the cornea, I believe the cornea, lens and the sclera (the white part) are removed, but I'm not positive. However, though the sclera for example, is not transplanted, it can be used for other purposes, like protecting someone else's eye.

I used to think, why donate my eyes, they suck anyways, but the cornea can be perfectly fine for transplant, cuz it's the lens that is deformed, causing near and far-sightedness.

daloosh
 

jtr1962

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I'm pretty sure I read somewhere about eye transplants being done. I don't think it's a common procedure yet, but given today's microsurgery techniques I don't see why it can't be done.

My eyes might be great to donate for someone who does a lot of close work. I can focus on things literally about 3 inches away. The price I pay is that my distance vision stinks (20/200). I only wear my glasses when I watch TV. I can actually bike just fine without them.
 

daloosh

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I'm not a surgeon or an ophthalmologist (nor do I play one on TV!), but I would guess that severing and reconnecting the optic nerve would be extremely difficult today. However, I'm sure many people are working on it.

A lot of work is going on to study regenerating the optic nerve, for patients with glaucoma for example, and it has not yet yielded success. Microsurgery for limb reattachment has grown by leaps and bounds, but the optic nerve is so much more complicated than simple ennervation, and it's difficult to regenerate the optic nerve after trauma. I forget, but I think there are like over a million nerves running thru the optic nerve like cable strands to the brain.

Certainly a lot of research has been done on salamanders (trying to grow eyes, or replace eyes) and small mammals like mice (severing the optic nerve and using agents to try to regenerate it), but I think humans and eye transplants are not quite a reality yet.

daloosh
 
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