Corneal donor's health may be associated with recipient's infection risk, study suggests

Corneal grafts obtained from donors dying in the hospital or with cancer may increase the risk for postsurgical endophthalmitis in recipients, "possibly due to donor-to-host microbial transmission," according to a study published in the February issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

"Together with donor screening and processing, improvements in microbiological control may reduce infection associated with corneal transplant," the study authors said.

Sohela S. Hassan, DrPH, and colleagues studied 162 cases of endopthalmitis that occurred in patients after penetrating keratoplasty over a 10-year period. Each case was matched to two control patients based on the date of surgery.

Of the 162 cases, 121 had microbial recovery, 59 of which had "concordant donor and recipient microbial isolates," according to the study.

The researchers found that endophthalmitis was associated with the use of grafts obtained from donors who were recently hospitalized (odds ratio, 2.84) and who had fatal cancer (odds ratio, 2.46).

Endophthalmitis also appeared more likely among patients who received tissues transplanted longer than 5 days after being donated, according to the study.