Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Keratoplasty and Corneal Eye Banking.
Cornea
; 40(8): 1018-1023, 2021 08 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1240937
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 guidelines for corneal donor tissue screening and the utility of routine postmortem COVID-19 testing of donors intended for surgical use at a single eye bank.METHODS:
A retrospective analysis of referrals to and eligible donors from an eye bank between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020, was performed, with the same time period in 2019 as a control. Referrals who were not procured because of Eye Bank Association of America COVID-19 guidelines and eye bank-specific restrictions were noted. The results of 1 month of routine postmortem testing performed by the eye bank were examined. Analysis of variance tests were performed to assess the change between donors from 2019 to 2020.RESULTS:
There was a significant reduction in both the number of total referrals to the eye bank (P = 0.044) and donors eligible for surgical transplantation (P = 0.031). Eye Bank Association of America COVID-19 guidelines reduced the number of referrals over this period by 4% to 14%. Of the 266 surgically eligible donors who received postmortem COVID-19 testing in June by the eye bank, 13 resulted positive (4.9%).CONCLUSIONS:
Despite a reduction in referrals and eligible corneal transplant donors at a single eye bank, there was a surplus of surgically suitable corneal tissue during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eye banks should consider routine postmortem COVID-19 testing to identify asymptomatic infected donors although the risk of transmission of COVID-19 from infected donors is unknown.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tissue Donors
/
Tissue and Organ Procurement
/
Keratoplasty, Penetrating
/
Cornea
/
Eye Banks
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
Cornea
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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