Requesting tissue

Requesting corneal tissue in the Netherlands

There is a waiting list in the Netherlands for donor corneas. Since November 2021, a cornea allocation application has been used for tissue requests, developed by the Dutch Transplantation Foundation (Dutch initials: NTS). In this application, corneal surgeons in various Dutch hospitals, or their planning staff, can process their cornea requests.

Requesting emergency corneas
Requests for emergency corneas are received by the NTS via the allocation application. The NTS determines which emergency corneas are allocated to which patient. Then, our Cornea Allocation Department reviews which hospital the allocated cornea needs to be sent to.

Requesting typed corneas
Requests for typed corneas are received by the NTS in exactly the same way as emergency corneas. In the central matching system, a match between patient and donor is searched for. The link is made when this match is found; our Cornea Allocation Department then reviews in the allocation application which hospital the matched cornea should be sent to.

Requesting other corneas
Requests in the allocation application for other, non-emergency corneas are received directly by our Cornea Allocation Department. This department determines on the basis of fixed criteria which patient an available cornea is allocated to. After acceptance of the cornea offer by the requesting hospital, the cornea, if necessary, is processed and sent to the hospital.

Requesting corneal tissue internationally

Requests for foreign patients should be submitted directly to our Allocation Department. Here, you can have your patient placed on our waiting list. There are also two work flows for international requests: requests for typed corneas and requests for non-typed (random) corneas.

Typed corneas
In the case of typed corneas, the patient is included in the central matching procedure for Dutch donor corneas. As soon as the matching system has found a suitable donor cornea, you are offered this cornea; if you accept it, it is then sent to you for transplantation.

Non-typed (random) corneas
Your patient is placed on our random waiting list. If surplus corneas are available, the Cornea Allocation Department determines based on urgency, waiting time, and suitability which patient the cornea is allocated to.

If there is no suitable waiting-list request, or if there is a larger number of random corneas available, the Cornea Allocation Department makes random cornea offers within its network of foreign contacts. A random offer like this can be used for any patient. The donor cornea is sent once the offer is accepted and the patient information is forwarded.

Requesting donor corneas
You should use our request form to request both typed and random corneas. You can download this Cornea Recipient Information Form here. Once the form is fully filled in, you should fax or email it to us.In the case of typed corneas, ensure that you also send the HLA typing and any antibody result of the patient.

Fax or e-mail
You can send us your registration via fax or e-mail. Please download the Cornea Recipient Information Form, complete it and return it to us via fax or e-mail.

If you have any questions about our grafts and how to request them, you can contact us during office hours.

Requesting scleral tissue

Once the cornea preparations have been completed, the eyeball will be fully cleaned on the inside, removing tissue such as the iris, the vitreous humour and the retina. This results in a ‘bare’ bulbus oculi that consists entirely of scleral tissue. The entire sclera can be used for prosthetic purposes after enucleations in patients with eye tumours. Quadrants and segments of the sclera can be used for glaucoma surgery.

You can request an entire sclera, or quadrants or segments. These will be delivered in a 70% alcohol solution.

To request scleral tissue, please download the Orderform Sclera, complete it and return it to us via fax or e-mail.

Requesting amniotic tissue

The amnion is obtained during a caesarean section, with permission from the pregnant mother. The amniotic membrane is freeze-dried, but can also be prepared frozen or vacuum-packed, if necessary. The amniotic membrane is a good upper layer and offers protection during recovery of the outer epithelial layer of the cornea.

Small pieces of this amnion for “transplantation” are used for non-healing ulcers caused by e.g. viral infections (incl. Herpes Zoster, Herpes Simplex) and other situations involving large-area epithelial injuries. Amniotic tissue is also used after chemical injuries to the eye, due to which the stem cells that normally facilitate surface healing can be severely damaged.

To request amniotic tissue please download the Orderform Amnion, complete it and return it to us via fax or e-mail.

Cornea delivery

Shipment of the cornea to the transplantation centre will usually take place on the day before the scheduled surgery. To ensure that the order is delivered in time and in good condition, we use our own door-to-door courier service. 
In the case of international deliveries, the order can also be collected from the airport near the hospital if this has been requested.

Sclera and amnion delivery

In principle, we have scleral and amniotic tissue in stock. Tissue orders are delivered by courier. On working days, tissue can be delivered within 12 to 24 hours.

Urgent Orders

If your order is urgent, please contact us.

  • Telephone: +31 (0) 71 408 3971

During working days, tissue for the Dutch centres can be delivered on the same day, if necessary. Delivery to foreign centres takes place following consultation.

Price information

In addition to the costs of the tissue, ETB-BISLIFE will charge shipment costs separately. Registration for the waiting list and the search for a suitable graft are free of charge. You will receive our invoice after we have found a suitable graft and shipped it to you.

For more information about prices, you can contact cornea@etb-bislife.org.