Bologna
Banca delle Cornee dell’Emilia Romagna
Ospedale Maggiore
Via dell’Ospedale, 8
40133 Bologna (BO)
Via dell’Ospedale, 8
40133 Bologna (BO)
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The Eye Bank was established with the purpose of collecting, screening, preserving, and distributing — with the highest standards of quality and safety — corneas, other ocular tissues, and amniotic membranes for elective surgery or urgent ophthalmic procedures.
The Cornea Procurement and Transplantation Network (as with all transplant tissues) in Italy is regulated by Article 15 of Law 91/1999. In accordance with this legislation, regional Eye Banks have been established throughout the national territory.
Eye Banking activities begin with donor selection, which is carried out according to specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, standardized nationwide to ensure transplant safety.
At the Eye Bank, ocular tissues are evaluated in controlled-contamination environments (laminar flow cabinets in filtered-air rooms) to assess their morphological and functional characteristics, and are then preserved in specific storage solutions at controlled temperatures.
Corneal tissues may be stored either cold (4°C) or warm (31°C). During warm storage and prior to the distribution of all tissues, microbiological culture tests are performed to rule out any potential contamination.
Amniotic membrane is prepared from placentas obtained during caesarean sections and stored at the Eye Bank at -80°C or in liquid nitrogen. Upon specific request, the tissue is typically thawed and shipped to the requesting centre.
In many cases, the tissue is not only certified and preserved, but also prepared according to the specific requirements of the surgeons who will use it. This occurs when lamellar corneal transplant surgery is to be performed.
In cases of anterior lamellar keratoplasty, the Eye Bank can prepare anterior corneal stromal lamellae of varying thickness and diameter as requested, using a microkeratome. For endothelial keratoplasties, surgeons may request tissue suitable for penetrating keratoplasty and then prepare the required tissue themselves in the operating room at the time of surgery, or they may request from the Eye Bank a tissue with specific characteristics tailored to the planned procedure.
In the latter case, Eye Bank staff can pre-cut a lenticule for DSAEK (consisting of deep stroma, Descemet's membrane, and endothelium) using a microkeratome, or prepare tissue for DMEK (consisting solely of Descemet's membrane and endothelium).
Any manipulation performed by the surgeon on tissue supplied by the Eye Bank must take place intraoperatively. Eye Banking activities are in fact only permitted within the Eye Bank itself.
All tissue banks in Italy are established by the Regional Authorities and certified by the National Transplant Centre for the conduct of their activities.
Within the Eye Bank, all stages of Eye Banking — from acceptance, evaluation, preparation, and certification through to tissue distribution — are carried out in compliance with continuously updated internal procedures.
The National Transplant Centre has developed a quality monitoring and control system for tissue bank activities, which includes regular inspections conducted every two years. Only banks that meet the requirements set out in EU Directive 23/2004 and Legislative Decree 191/2007 are certified as eligible to operate on the national territory. The fundamental purpose of the directive is to ensure the quality and safety of tissues, thereby minimising the risk of disease transmission through transplantation.
