Life Pass It On Trust Fund

Through the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles you now have the opportunity to make a $1 contribution to the LIFE PASS IT ON TRUST FUND.   This opportunity is available on the application for Drivers License or Non Driver ID Card.  A contribution to the Fund is used for organ donation and transplant research and educational projects promoting organ and tissue donation.  This was made possible by Legislation that was passed in 2006.

Boston International Lions Convention

LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE ENCOURAGING ORGAN & TISSUE DONATION

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that the Assembly will take up a 12-bill package aimed at encouraging greater donation participation in New York State. Joined at a Capitol news conference by a bipartisan group of key legislators who are sponsoring bills in the package, as well as numerous advocates, Silver stressed the importance of raising public awareness in order to increase the rate of organ donation in New York State.

“Every day thousands of desperate New Yorkers wait for the phone to ring with news of an available kidney, liver, heart or lung. For these individuals, organ donation is their last option,” said Silver. “By taking up these bills and calling attention to this national crisis, we are hopeful that more New Yorkers will choose to make this ultimate, lifesaving gift.”

The organ donation issue has received renewed interest in New York State following the announcement last month by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky that he will donate a kidney to his 14-year old daughter, Willie, who is suffering from an autoimmune disease.

“New York State lags behind the rest of the country in organ and tissue donation. This legislative package is aggressive and visionary and has the potential to vastly improve donation in New York State. In particular, Assemblyman Brodsky’s idea to establish a commission to study presumed consent can make a big difference for New Yorkers waiting for transplants,” said Elaine Berg, President and CEO of the New York Organ Donor Network.

“The need for life saving transplants grows every day. As of June 19, there are 92,278 people on the national waiting lists; over 8,000 are from New York. In addition, eye sight is restored, burns are healed and mobility regained because of altruistic people willing to share the gift of life. These innovative policy changes can make a difference to those on the waiting list, said Carla Williams, Executive Director of the New York Alliance for Donation.

Reflections of Love

Journey for Sight

The Albany & Troy Lions Club joined together with the Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. (Lions Eye Bank at Albany) to sponsor their 3rd  Annual Journey for Sight Walk-a-thon on September 16, 2006.  Lions, family and friends gathered on the beautiful sunny morning at Riverfront Park, Troy, NY for a walk along the shore of the Hudson River.  Associate sponsor for this year’s event was Capital Bauer Insurance and Financial Services.  Fagan Associates, Center for Donation and Transplant, Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte and Key Bank generously provided the walk’s tee shirts.  The walkers and those who stopped by to visit enjoyed tasty treats donated by Goold Orchards, Stewart’s Shops, Dunkin Donuts, Culligan Water of Troy and Price Chopper.  Although our friend, Waterford Lion Gil Roy, could not attend this year’s walk he arranged a live remote broadcast on local radio station WABY.  A very special thank you to PDG Dave Harris for his continued support and participation in the Albany & Troy Lions Club, as well as The Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. (Lions Eye Bank at Albany).

American Academy of Ophthalmology

celebrations for 100th anniversary of corneal transplant

This year (2005) the Lions Eye Bank at Albany and the EBAA (Eye Bank Association of America) celebrated the 100 year anniversary of the first corneal transplant. It seems an appropriate time to look, not at the last 100 years, but more recently to what has changed in the field of corneal transplantation. Transplanting the human cornea has had an excellent and long successful track record. The majority of transplanted corneas are accepted (not rejected) and remain clear affording the patient a significant improvement in their daily living. There are, however, certain aspects of the surgery that limits the degree of ultimate success:

First, the visual recovery is slow and full healing of a standard transplant can take up to one year. While most patients go home from surgery the same day and can resume near normal activity in just a matter of days, visual recovery is much slower and can fluctuate for the first year.

Second, the final shape of the transplanted cornea often does not resemble the patient’s preoperative corneal shape. At times, the transplanted cornea exhibits an irregular surface with increased astigmatism, necessitating either a thick spectacle correction or, more commonly, a rigid contact lens for the patient to see clearly.

FIGURE 1 – schematic showing the area of the posterior cornea removed during selection transplantation



Finally, a small proportion of patients have their transplant fail usually due to repeated immunologic rejection. For these patients, each repeated transplant carries a higher rejection rate and subsequently an overall much poorer prognosis.

The last five years has seen the emergence of a number of new procedures each attempting to address some of the above concerns. Traditionally when a corneal transplant is performed the entire cornea (full thickness) is transplanted. More recently we have begun selectively transplanting different layers of the cornea. For patients with corneal edema (swelling) we can transplant just the back half of the cornea. Selectively replacing the posterior portion of the cornea allows for a more rapid healing and retains more of the patient’s original corneal shape leading to a quicker visual rehabilitation.

FIGURE 2 – A microkeratome device is used to prepare anterior layer to transplant from the donor cornea








For patients with corneal scars in the anterior cornea, we can now replace the front half of the cornea while leaving the patients posterior cornea behind. The posterior layer of the cornea (endothelium) is the layer responsible for immunologic graft rejection, so selectively replacing the front portion almost eliminates the risk of graft rejection.

Finally, the last few years has seen a dramatic increase in the use of the Keratoprosthesis (artificial cornea) for patients who have had multiple previous graft failures. The artificial cornea allows patients, whom otherwise would have not a chance of useful vision, the opportunity to live a productive life. The Albany Medical Center Lions Eye Institute is the national data collection site for the major keratoprosthesis in use today.

FIGURE 3 – Appearance of the keratoprostheis (artificial cornea) one day after surgery








All of the above procedures require new, complicated, and at times costly equipment, much of which has been supported in part by the Sight Society and Lions Eye Bank at Albany. For this, my patients, partners at Cornea Consultants of Albany and I are forever grateful

Michael W. Belin, MD
Professor & Director Cornea & Refractive Surgery Albany Medical College
Medical Director Lions Eye Bank at Albany

55th Annual Membership Meeting

The 55th Annual Membership Meeting of the Sight Society of Northeastern New York, Inc. was held on April 22, 2007 at the Albany Hilton Garden Inn. At this meeting, Executive Board members and Officers were elected and two research grants were awarded. Recipients of the research grants were Dr. Michael Belin and Dr. Robert Schulte. Picture at left shows Chris Jackson, Sight Society President, Roger Swartfiguer, Sight Society Chairman and Dr. Robert Schultze.

Edward C. VanDenburgh Memorial Award

Stewarts Donation

Medical Director named Fellow

Dr. Robert Schultze, Assistant Medical Director, Becomes First in Northeastern New York to Correct Nearsightedness with New Lens Implant

The procedure, which was approved by the FDA this past September following three years of clinical trials, which included several thousand patients. Now an option in this country for those who are severely nearsighted and who-for whatever reason-cannot wear contact lenses or have Lasik surgery.

The procedure, which only takes about a half hour, must be performed in a sterile operating room environment and only one eye should be done at a time. To implant the lens, which is approximately one third the size of a contact lens, an incision is made in the eye and the lens is carefully positioned behind the cornea, the outer clear portion of the eye. It features two tiny clasps that allow the eye surgeon to attach it directly onto the iris.

After a brief recovery period (generally an hour or so) the patient returns to the ophthalmologist the following day for an eye examination to check for complications, which are rare but which can include swelling of the cornea and increased pressure on the eye. While there may be an immediate improvement in vision, the visual effects of the surgery take two weeks to a month to stabilize. The second eye can be done soon thereafter.

The lens used in the procedure is a hard plastic one, made from the same material (polymethylmethacrylate) that intraocular lenses used for cataracts have been made from for years. Known as Verisyse, the “Phalic IOL” device is marketed by Advance Medical Optics of Santa Ana, Calif. While it is designed to be permanent, it can be surgically removed and replaced if necessary (due to an eye injury or change in the eye’s shape that requires a different prescription).

Like Lasik, insurance companies do not cover the procedure. It costs approximately $3,500 per eye.