Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Keratoplasty and Corneal Eye Banking

Abstract

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text.

A Review of Corneal Transplantation: An Insight on the Overall Global Post-COVID-19 Impact

“…There are conflicting reports about the presence and replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the eye tissue with viral particles being detected in COVID-19-infected patients. However, others report no such viral presence in the post-mortem eye tissues of infected patients [ 17 ]. Miner et al reported that there is no significant risk of viral replication in the explant of the cornea and, hence, there are no significant risks associated with corneal transplantation [ 17 ].…”

“…However, others report no such viral presence in the post-mortem eye tissues of infected patients [ 17 ]. Miner et al reported that there is no significant risk of viral replication in the explant of the cornea and, hence, there are no significant risks associated with corneal transplantation [ 17 ].…”

“…Phylactou et al showed that despite the cornea being immune privileged, there is an association between the corneal graft rejection post-vaccination with BNT162b2, which causes activation of both humoral and cellular responses where Interferon-gamma producing CD-4 helper T-cells have a crucial role in allograft rejection [ 13 ]. In the United States, there was a drop in both the number of donors and referrals by 45% and 31%, respectively, based on a four-month comparison in 2020 and 2019, which was mainly due to restrictions at different places and the revised EBAA guidelines [ 17 ]. Voluntary corneal donations are the main source of cornea in India.…”

Dilemma of donor testing before corneal retrieval in the COVID-19 era

“…Recent studies have reported a significant RT-PCR positivity rate of nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from presumed COVID-19-negative potential donors, ranging from 4.8% to as high as 18.64%. [ 1 15 16 ] Arora et al . [ 15 ] also reported a high viral load (Ct < 25) in 54.54% of the positive cases, suggestive of high risk of disease transmission to the health personnel handling the tissue.…”

“…Elective health care services have temporarily taken a backseat, and eye-banking and keratoplasty services have come to a near-standstill. [ 1 ] As we learn to live with the pandemic and move forward, there is a need to revise existing norms and guidelines in order to optimize eye-banking services and effectively tackle the growing backlog of routine keratoplasty procedures.…”