ArticleMicroorganisms2023
Prevalence of Herpes Simplex and Varicella-Zoster Virus DNA in Corneal Grafts Is Higher than Expected.
Article in Microorganisms, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cytomegalovirus Infection of the Anterior Segment: Corneal Endotheliitis and Secondary Glaucoma.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Clinical manifestations and outcomes of HSK following corneal transplantation.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Clinical strategies to prevent recurrence of Herpes simplex and Herpes zoster following ocular surgery: A comprehensive review with practical guidelines.Survey of ophthalmologyReview
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purpose(1) To determine the prevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in donor corneas; (2) To evaluate the clinical outcome of the grafts with viral DNA and to compare donors with and without viral DNA.
methodsWe analyzed data from all donors and recipients who underwent penetrating keratoplasty (PK) or Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) between September 2022 and March 2023. Donor corneoscleral rims and excised recipients' corneal buttons were tested for the presence of HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, and CMV DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results were known 2-3 days after the surgery. We closely followed up on patients whose grafts tested positive for viral DNA. We compared the medical histories of donors with and without viral DNA.
resultsWe included 85 corneas from 67 donors. Seven (8.2%) donor corneas tested positive for HSV-1 (n = 3) or VZV (n = 4) DNA. We did not detect any HSV-2 or CMV DNA. In the postoperative follow-up of patients with positive PCR, a graft failure was observed in one and infections in two eyes. Re-operation was necessary in three of these cases (42.9%). Patients without herpes DNA in the donor cornea needed reoperation in 7.7% of the cases. Cultural duration, the cause of the donor's death, and the death-to-explantation interval did not differ significantly between donors with and without viral DNA. Additionally, 3 of the 7 (42.9%) donors with positive PCR were in a septic status at the time of death, compared to 21 of the 78 (26.9%) donors with negative PCR (
conclusionsThe prevalence of herpes DNA in the donor corneas was 8.2% and thus higher than previously reported. We did not notice any evidence for a donor-to-host transmission, but a higher rate of postoperative complications in recipients of the grafts with viral DNA. The donors with and without herpetic DNA did not differ significantly regarding systemic diagnoses or cultural conditions, but sepsis was more frequent in the group with viral DNA.
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