More than 1,000 corneal transplants performed every year at Delhi AIIMS, say doctors

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) More than 1,000 corneal transplants are performed at the AIIMS, Delhi every year, the past six years, and the facility has an 85 per cent utilisation rate of donor corneas, which is better than the national average, doctors at the hospital said.

In 2024, 1,636 successful surgeries were carried out at Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences (RP Centre) at AIIMS, they said.

The National Eye Bank (NEB), RP Centre, celebrated the 40th National Eye Donation Fortnight at J L Auditorium here on Tuesday.

Dr Radhika Tandon, Chief of the RP Centre said the NEB has changed the face of eye banking in the country with more than 36,000 corneas collected till date.

"The NEB has visually rehabilitated over 26,000 corneal blind patients from all over the country by means of corneal transplantation. We have successfully trained more than 500 ophthalmologists in the latest techniques of corneal transplant surgeries during this time period," she said.

The NEB has collected 1,931 corneas in 2024, of which 1611 were collected from hospital corneal retrieval programme (HCRP) which accounts for approximately 83 per cent of total tissues, she said.

Thus, the self-sustainable 'AIIMS Delhi-HCRP' helps in collection of optical quality of donor corneas to sustain the demands of corneal transplantation, Tandon said.

"For the past six years, we have consistently performed more than 1,000 corneal transplant surgeries per year. In 2024, 1,636 corneal blind patients received corneal transplants. This amounts to a utilisation rate of around 85 per cent, which is greater than the national average," said Dr Namrata Sharma from RP Centre.

This year marked the beginning of a novel drone-assisted corneal collection in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and Dr Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital.

This first-of-its-kind initiative helped the National Eye Bank procure more tissues by transporting corneal tissues using drones, thereby reducing transportation delays and ensuring optimum utilization of donor corneas, she said.

"We are implementing an ongoing project, sponsored by RayMed Ltd., to procure corneal tissues from other eye banks for pediatric keratoplasty. There has been an increase in corneal tissue collection, utilisation rates, and the use of a single donor for multiple recipients. However, the number of cases registered for corneal transplantation has also continued to rise," Tandon said.

Tandon further said the NEB is trying to establish a network of all government hospitals across Delhi and NCR to maximize the collection of donor corneas as well as to avail corneal tissue access to all corneal surgeons.

"We have shifted from modern to ultra-modern endothelial keratoplasty techniques where only the required functional membrane is transplanted, i.e., sutureless corneal endothelial transplantation technique of Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK).

"This technique allows an effective management of both genetic and iatrogenic endothelial dysfunctions thereby providing a rapid visual rehabilitation and better quality of life," she explained.

The RP Centre has been a pioneer in propagating the concept of "single donor multiple recipients" in order to ensure optimal utilisation of donor tissues. Now, with the new technique of membrane peeling surgery, the whole donor tissue can be used for multiple lamellar corneal transplants as well as allogeneic stem cell transplantation, she said.

"The RP Centre is also taking care of the major burden of corneal infections and its complications. We have performed 821 therapeutic keratoplasties in 2024, which is 50 per cent of our total transplant surgeries," she said.

The Centre has recently explored alternatives to human donor corneas, including biosynthetic corneas and newly designed CorNeat keratoprosthesis.

In addition, collaborative work with IIT Delhi is underway for the development of a bioengineered corneal implant, Tandon said.

"Through these initiatives, the RP Centre is taking a lead in developing alternative solutions to reduce dependency on human donor corneas. The NEB has been actively engaged in the training of eye donation counselors, technicians, and nursing students from across the country," she said.

On August 14, a sensitisation programme on 'eye donation and eye banking process' was conducted for nursing personnel from various departments of AIIMS. On August 18, an eye donation counsellor boot camp was organised at the RP Centre, which included formal wet lab training on the preparation of corneal lamellar grafts using an automated microkeratome, Dr Sharma said.

A 100 per cent online death notification system has been in place at AIIMS, which is helping our eye bank counsellors and technicians to approach a greater number of families, she said.

She further informed that recently, NEB and ORBO have started on online pledge system for organ donation in order to increase eye donation awareness in the community. This step has simplified the associated formalities for willing donors related to the pledging. Last year 100 peoples pledged for eye donation at NEB, Sharma added. PTI PLB SKY SKY