First results of investigations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in human corneal tissue
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Tarek Bayyoud1 · Thomas Iftner2 · Karl Ulrich Bartz-Schmidt1 · Jens Martin Rohrbach1 · Marius Ueffing1,3 · Michael Schindler2 · Sebastian Thaler1 1
© Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature 2020
Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen, Eberhard Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany Institut für Medizinische Virologie und Epidemiologie, Eberhard Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany 3 Forschungsinstitut für Augenheilkunde, Eberhard Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany 2
First results of investigations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in human corneal tissue We report on the results of a recent investigation (Bayyoud et al., Cornea, 2020, preliminary accepted) that suggests the absence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA (SARS-CoV-2 RNA) in human corneal tissues of coronavirus disease 2019 cadaveric donors (COVID-19 donors). Although a selection bias for severe inpatient disease and a small donor pool (10 donor eyes) need to be cited as limitations, we consider this study to be timely and relevant to the literature—not least in view of continuing eye bank activities and, as the most obvious reason, the concern related to transplantation of infected tissue.
Current guidelines of the eye bank associations, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The guidelines of the eye bank associations (e.g., Eyebank Association of America) do not currently include an explicit recommendation for testing of postmortem tissue for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. This is in line with the fixed procedure of the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and its US counterpart, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in such cases. There are currently no data The German version of this article can be found under https://doi.org/10.1007/s00347020-01151-0.
available demonstrating the frequency of positive detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the pharyngeal cavity by means of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in relation to the time of death. However, experience gained from the other two coronavirus epidemics, i.e., severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), suggests that this may be the case post mortem.
Possibility of transmitting SARSCoV-2 via tissue transplantation The present study showed that SARSCoV-2 RNA could not be detected in bulbar conjunctiva, anterior chamber fluid, or corneal tissue (endothelium, stroma, and epithelium) from COVID-19 cadaveric donors using RT-PCR. Therefore,
one can conclude that the risk of SARSCoV-2 transmission via conjunctival and corneal tissue from deceased donors is very low. However, further and larger studies are needed to confirm these results. The findings are of great relevance for the collection, processing, and transplantation of tissue. Other factors that could have an effect on the RT-PCR test result also need to be taken into consideration. These include the duration of COVID-19 disease, the time of
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