Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Eye Tissue Harvesting Procedures In A Tertiary Eye Care Center
Published 2022 - 40th Congress of the ESCRS
Reference: PP26.12 | Type: ESCRS 2022 - Posters | DOI: 10.82333/x78v-5y96
Authors: Boze Mihaljevic* 1 , Iva Krolo 2 , Danijela Rac 1 , Ivan Sabol 3 , Marin Radmilovic 1 , Ivana Radman 1 , Ivanka Petric Vickovic 1 , Zoran Vatavuk 1
1University hospital center Sestre milosrdnice,Zagreb,Croatia, 2University hospital center Sestre milosrdnice,Zagreb,Croatia;Optical Express Group,Zagreb,Croatia, 3Rudjer Boskovic Institute,Zagreb,Croatia
Purpose
To analyze the effect that SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had on harvesting of corneal tissue and eye banking procedures in a tertiary eye care center.
Setting
University Department of General Surgery and University Department of Pathology; University Hospital Centre Sestre milosrdnice, Zagreb, Croatia
Methods
A retrospective analysis of all procedures constituting the ocular tissue harvesting was performed, including number of deaths, potential donors, screened corneas, obtained family consents, and explantation itself. The data was collected at a tertiary eye care center during period from January 2018 until December 2021. All corneas were recovered from individuals listed on state's organ donor registry and upon the authorization by a next of kin, ensuring that the donor’s wishes are observed.
Results
A reduction in all ocular tissue harvesting-related parameters during 2020 was seen, compared to the two previous years and year later. Total number of harvesting tissues was 329 of non-heart beating (NHB) and 55 heart beating (HB) procedures.There was a 43.1%, 37.6% and a 23.7% reduction in number of NHB procedures in 2020, compared to 2018,2019 and 2021,respectively.HB procedures also showed a reduction in 2020, of a 47.1%, 35.7% and a 40%, compared to 2018, 2019 and 2021, respectively. A significant decrease was noticed in total number of both types of procedures (NHB and HB) in the year 2020, compared with 2018, 2019 and 2021, both in the lockdown period (from March to May) and during the non-lockdown months (chi-square test, p=0.0006).
Conclusions
Although both COVID-19 and mitigation measures have led to noticeable decrease in ocular tissue procurement during the year 2020, a significant increase of procedures was noticed in 2021, achieving numbers similar to once in prepandemic time. Our study strongly recommends following the Eye bank regulations to reduce the potential risk of viral transmission through corneal transplant surgery.