Placenta donations may save sight

To look at 6-week-old Thomas Riggins, you'd never think of him as a 12-pound trendsetter.

But with a little help from his mother, Reva, the Gainesville baby was the first in North Central Florida to have his birth placenta banked.

Essential in pregnancy, the placenta joins mother and fetus, transferring oxygen and nutrients, removing waste products. After birth, however, the placenta and fetal membranes that have enclosed the baby for months are almost always discarded.

Now, the innermost membrane of that placenta can be stored in a tissue bank. It has the potential to save the sight of between 50 and 100 people, thanks to recent developments in eye surgery and tissue grafting.

Dr. Jeffrey Catlin, a Gainesville ophthalmologist, is among the area eye surgeons who are using the amniotic membrane to treat some types of eye diseases and injuries. The membrane that serves as a natural barrier to protect the fetus from potential bacterial and viral infection has similar biological and physical properties to the tissue on the surface of the eye.

So when a piece is implanted on the surface of the eye, the amniotic membrane promotes faster wound repair and healing with minimal inflammation or scarring.

"Because the membrane is such a neutral form of tissue, the patient's own tissue usually grows into it quite nicely," Catlin said.

The ophthalmologist said he primarily uses the amniotic tissue as a graft in treating pterygiums, growths on the surface of the eye caused by long-term sun damage.

Cost is one limitation to using membrane grafts more frequently, he added. When an insurance company will not reimburse the physician for the cost of using the amniotic tissue, the added expense falls on the patient. And because of its limited availability, an amniotic tissue graft can be pricey, Catlin explained.

After some five years of research into the technique, Southeast Tissue Alliance, the tissue procurement organization serving North Central Florida, has begun accepting placentas for banking from women who deliver by elective C-section.

Riggins, who works for SETA, knew of the fledgling program and was the very first mother to participate here.

"Since I was the third child born in my family, it felt really good to finally be first at something," Riggins said. "Really, it was a 'no-brainer.' "

Riggins said the process was much like donating blood. She answered some medical questions and signed a consent form before her delivery.

"It's very simple," she said. "There's nothing extra you have to do physically."

The placental tissue was collected by SETA and sent to Bio-Tissue Inc. in Miami. Bio-Tissue prepares the amniotic membrane for use in future eye surgeries, then freezes it for storage until it is needed.

North Florida Regional Medical Center is the only area hospital that now offers the banking option for placental tissue, according to Bill Cassarly, regional director of SETA. It is also offered at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Cassarly said.

Dr. Eduardo Marichal is an obstetrician with North Florida Women's Physicians. He delivered Riggins' son.

About one-third of his deliveries are done by Caesarian section, Marichal said, and so far three patients have chosen to donate to the placenta bank.

Four doctors in his medical group offer their patients the option.

"It is such a waste to throw these placentas away without getting any benefit out of them," Marichal said. "It doesn't require much enticement on my part (to get mothers to donate)."

Diane Chun can be reached at 374-5041 or by e-mail at chund@gvillesun.com.