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Surgeons

Eye Banks and Surgeons are Partners in Transplantation

We are looking up from the table as surgeons and staff in masks, scrubs, and other gear concentrate on surgery

The Lions Medical Eye Bank & Research Center of Eastern Virginia can help you access corneal and scleral tissue, as well as related tissue products from other eye banks and sources. 
Through our network, we can access any available product or service to meet your needs.

Fair and Equitable Allocation

The Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia commits to policy of fair and equitable allocation of donated gifts.  This policy is followed at all times and applied to each gift independently to engender the best outcome from each gift.  The hierarchy of fair and equitable allocation is as follows:

  1. Emergency need (at risk of immediate and permanent loss of vision)

  2. Urgent need (in need of tissue of limited availability)

  3. Local need

  4. Domestic need (outside of Hampton Roads)

  5. Cellular therapy need (emerging technology to grow more sight restoring cellular products from single donated gifts)

  6. International need (outside of United States of America)

  7. Long-term storage for other surgical uses

Tissues that are recovered with intent for surgical use that are not determined eligible for surgical use may be used for research, training, or medical education, if authorization from next-of-kin allows.

Lions Medical Eye Bank's Track Record Speaks to Decades of Quality Tissue

The Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia ensures that transplantable eye tissue passes donor eligibility criteria according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) medical standards.  Variables related to tissue quality or processing parameters are met or exceeded with respect to each patient we serve at your side.

Three small, round, clear containers from LMEB's lab that each hold one cornea. You see Red storage liquid and a white label

Our quality program is closely tied with the clinical services program to ensure that we always stay ahead of the curve regarding tissue safety and tissue quality.

A front view of a staff member in LMEB's lab looking through a slit lamp microscope at a cornea

Medical Director Emeritus, Bruce Bodner, M.D., was involved in founding the eye bank and has since maintained an active role in providing pragmatic medical oversight to quality initiatives.  Medical Directors John Sheppard, M.D. and Mark Pavilack, M.D. continue to serve, ensuring high quality tissue donated from Hampton Roads residents keep restoring sight.

Track Record

The Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia has never earned less than the EBAA’s best accreditation.

 

Registered with the FDA as an HCT/P “manufacturer,” the Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia has operated for decades without adverse inspection findings.

 

Every technician from Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia that has sought Certified Eye Bank Technician (CEBT) certification by the Eye Bank Association of America has passed the exam on the first try.

 

You can download any credentials needed for your files on our Certificates & Registrations Page.

Considerations

Schedule early! Unless patients have an urgent or emergency need for tissue, patients are served on a first-come, first-serve basis. Additionally, processing tissue for endothelial keratoplasty requires coordination that takes time.  Therefore, as least a week lead time is suggested. 

 

Recipient Tracking and Follow-Up is performed by the Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia for all patients who have received tissue. This is an FDA requirement and it is good practice. In order to perform this service, we rely on ophthalmic surgeons and their staff to return the Recipient Information Forms as soon as possible following a tissue transplant.

As partners in the treatment of patients receiving donated human tissue transplants, it’s incumbent on both the surgical team and the eye bank to engage in open communication about needs and follow up.

Reporting adverse tissue reactions observed after a transplant as promptly as possible is necessary to protect other patients. If you have a potential adverse reaction to report, please contact us at 757-388-2020 or quality@lionseyebank.org.

The Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia provides the following eye tissue:

  • Corneas for PK

  • Corneas for endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK & DSEK), including pre-loaded

  • Corneas for intralase-enabled keratoplasty (IEK)

  • Corneas for KLAL

  • Corneas for DALK and ALK

  • Corneas for keratoprosthesis (K-Pro)

  • Sclera (whole, half, or quarter)

  • Irradiated Corneas (whole or bisected/half-thickness)

Any product needed for cornea transplant provided by any US eye bank, including those emerging anew and not on the above list, can be accessed through the Lions Medical Eye Bank and Research Center of Eastern Virginia. 

We work with everyone, so you don’t have to.

 

Ophthalmic surgeons or their staff may establish a relationship, including access to our surgeon portal, by contacting Distribution at distribution@lionseyebank.org.

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