Ocular Immunology and Inflammation ( IF 3.3 ) Pub Date : 2021-10-12 , DOI: 10.1080/09273948.2021.1980810 Alireza Kamalipour 1 , Mohammad Ali Ashraf 2, 3 , Sasan Moghimi 1 , Afagh Moattari 4, 5 , Mohammad Javad Ashraf 6 , Farhad Abbasi 7 , Farzan Azodi 8 , Shadi Oboudi 3 , Neda Pirbonyeh 4, 9 , Maryam Mokhtaryan 10 , Amirhossein Roshanshad 2, 3 , Jiun L Do 1 , Robert N Weinreb 1
ABSTRACT
Purpose
To determine the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in postmortem ocular specimens of patients with severe COVID-19 disease.
Patients and methods
Postmortem conjunctival (28 samples), aqueous humor (30 samples) and vitreous humor (30 samples) specimens were obtained bilaterally from the eyes of 15 deceased COVID-19 patients within one hour of death. The presence of viral RNA was evaluated in samples using Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results
Positive RT-PCR SARS-COV-2 results were found in one conjunctival and 2 vitreous humor samples. All aqueous humor samples tested negative for the presence of SARS-COV-2 RNA. Of note, three positive samples were obtained from three different patients. The overall prevalence of positive RT-PCR ocular samples was 3.4% among all samples and 20% at the patient level.
Conclusion
SARS-CoV-2 RNA is detectable in postmortem conjunctival and vitreous humor samples of patients with severe COVID-19.
中文翻译:
人眼中严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA 的检测
摘要
目的
确定严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA 在严重 COVID-19 病患者的死后眼部标本中的存在。
患者和方法
在 15 名 COVID-19 死者死后一小时内,从双眼双侧获得死后结膜(28 个样本)、房水(30 个样本)和玻璃体液(30 个样本)标本。使用实时逆转录酶-聚合酶链反应 (RT-PCR) 评估样品中病毒 RNA 的存在。
结果
在 1 个结膜样本和 2 个玻璃体样本中发现了 RT-PCR SARS-COV-2 阳性结果。所有房水样本的 SARS-COV-2 RNA 检测结果均为阴性。值得注意的是,三个阳性样本来自三个不同的患者。阳性 RT-PCR 眼部样本的总体患病率在所有样本中为 3.4%,在患者层面为 20%。
结论
在重症 COVID-19 患者的死后结膜和玻璃体液样本中可检测到 SARS-CoV-2 RNA。