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Endothelial cell counts similar in donor corneas with, without HIV
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SEATTLE — Donor corneas with or without HIV have no significant differences in endothelial cell counts, according to a poster here.
“Since the patients were not known to be HIV-positive according to their medical records and interview with family members, it may be that the infection was relatively early in these patients,” John A. Gonzales, MD, and colleagues said in a poster presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
The retrospective cohort comparison study included medical records from 1,211 donors from the Lions Eye Institute in Tampa, Fla. Twenty subjects were HIV-positive, and 1,191 were HIV-negative controls. HIV-1/2 positive subjects were determined by serological evidence from HIV antibodies, positive viral nucleic acid test or both.
Corneas from HIV-positive subjects had a mean endothelial cell count of 2,608/mm2, and corneas from HIV-negative subjects had a mean cell count of 2,623/mm2. After controlling for age, the difference in endothelial cell count between cases and controls was not significant. HIV-negative donors of African and Asian descent had statistically lower endothelial cell counts compared with Caucasians.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.