| Title: |
Role of Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction in Cornea Donors During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| Authors: |
Arora, Ritu; Sharda, Shipra; Sahu, Jigyasa; Manchanda, Vikas; Jain, Parul; Gupta, Isha; Gotmare, Nikhil; Bharti, Nisha |
| Source: |
Cornea ; volume 40, issue 8, page 1044-1047 ; ISSN 0277-3740 |
| Publisher Information: |
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) |
| Publication Year: |
2021 |
| Description: |
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the analysis of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of nasopharyngeal (NP) samples of cornea donors dying because of causes unrelated to severe acute respiratory coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: A retrospective analysis of all cornea donors dying from causes other than SARS-CoV-2 between August 2020 and December 2020 was performed. Informed consent was obtained from the next of kin of the deceased for RT-PCR testing from NP swabs. Rapid antigen testing from all the deceased was performed before in situ cornea excision. In addition, NP samples in viral transport media for RT-PCR were also collected for SARS-CoV-2 analysis. Corneas were released from the eye bank only after a negative RT-PCR report. Result: One hundred eighteen corneas from 59 donors were obtained by the eye bank. Eleven donors (18.64%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR testing. Six of these 11 donors had a Ct value of E gene less than 25. Conclusions: NP samples of cornea donors dying due to causes other than coronavirus disease-19 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR. This implicates that donors could be having asymptomatic/undetected coronavirus disease infection. We recommend adding the routine testing of NP samples of all cornea donors in the eye banking protocol in this ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1097/ico.0000000000002742 |
| DOI: |
10.1097/ICO.0000000000002742 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1097/ico.0000000000002742; https://journals.lww.com/10.1097/ICO.0000000000002742 |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.A7E8C7A5 |
| Database: |
BASE |