Wir überwinden Grenzen

Thanks to a generous donation from the Southwest Lions Clubs, a new device for checking corneal transplants can be purchased at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg

Great joy and a new device in sight: the Lions Clubs of Lions District 111-South-West have donated 80,000 euros to the Lions Eye Bank at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg's Eye Center. The symbolic handover took place on Wednesday, June 28, 2023 at the University Eye Clinic.

"In an eight-week campaign, the members of the South-West Clubs got together and raised the money with joint activities such as benefit concerts and charity dinners. We are delighted to be able to support the Eye Bank with this important investment," says Lions District Governor Stefan Gumbert.

The donation will now be used to purchase a new device for checking corneal transplants. "This will make transplantation even safer for those affected," says Prof. Dr. Philip Maier, Head of the Lions Cornea Bank Baden-Württemberg at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. "It enables us to precisely examine the transplants in advance using high-resolution cross-sectional images and thus rule out specific eye diseases in the corneal donors so that these cannot be transferred to the recipients." The digital cross-sectional images are generated using optical coherence tomography.

450 transplants at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg

Numerous eye diseases can lead to irreparable damage to the cornea. If the cornea loses its clarity or uniform curvature, only a transplant can prevent the threat of permanent blindness. For 20 years, the Lions Cornea Bank Baden-Württemberg has been responsible for the quality-assured removal, assessment and storage of donated corneas. Around 450 corneas from its collection are transplanted at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg every year. This has helped 9,000 patients in our region over the past 20 years.

Lions Clubs International (LCI) is the charitable club movement with the largest membership in the world. In Germany, the 52,000 members of the approximately 1,600 clubs volunteer their time under the motto "we serve" in various aid projects, including eight eye banks in Germany - including the Lions Eye Bank Baden-Württemberg.

Caption: After removal, the corneas are stored in a nutrient solution until they are transplanted.
Image source: Medical Center - University of Freiburg