Your Team
by email at lions.hornhautbank@uks.eu
Telephone: +49 6841 16-2235
Fax: +49 6841 16-22486
Only 35% of Germans have an organ donation card!
As doctors at the Eye Clinic in the Saarland University Hospital UKS, we want to set a good example with the motto "Ophthalmologists are organ donors"!
Infections, injuries, or congenital diseases can cloud the cornea of the eye. This means that the affected person loses their eyesight and can go blind. The corneal transplant, which was introduced in 1905, is one of the most common and most successful tissue transplants today and gives the majority of patients back their eyesight.
If you want to donate organs or tissue, you should have a declaration on organ donation ("organ donation card") with you. If there is no donor ID, the relatives will be asked for consent in the sense of the presumed will of the deceased if the death is determined.
The donor corneas can be removed up to 24 hours after the cardiovascular arrest. The so-called "brain death problem", like the age of the deceased or a previous cataract operation, does not play a role.
The removed corneas are replaced by a plastic shell and the eyelids are closed. This leaves the facial expression unchanged.
We write history!
The LIONS corneal bank was founded on July 14, 2000 with the aim of supplying the greater region with donor corneas of optimal quality. The establishment of a corneal bank in the Clinic for Ophthalmology at the University Hospital of Saarland UKS in Homburg / Saar should help to shorten the waiting time for a donor cornea. True to the Saarland motto “Big things start with small things”, it is no longer just the people of the region who benefit from the Saarland gem, but patients from all over Germany, Luxembourg, France and other countries are provided with corneal transplants in Homburg. A total of 6,172 transplants had been carried out by 2021 .
In order to continue to guarantee patient care at the highest level and to be future-proof, thanks to the generous donation of the Klaus Faber Foundation (Saarbrücken) of 1.2 million euros and the support of the LIONS Clubs International Foundation over $ 100,000 on February 19, 2019, the “Klaus Faber Center for Corneal Diseases including LIONS Corneal Bank Saar-Lor-Lux, Trier/West Palatinate” founded. The heart of this new, promising corneal bank is a laboratory area based on the shell principle with the highest cleanroom quality.
In addition to this ultra-modern clean room corneal bank, there are also three permanent wetlabs with 6 surgical microscopes and instruments available. The training in these training operating theaters offers both young and experienced surgeons the opportunity to learn practical skills in new techniques.
The Saarland University Eye Clinic is proud that we were able to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the second LIONS corneal bank in Germany in 2020.
