Indian journal of ophthalmology
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Indian J Ophthalmol · Jul 2020
ReviewAll India Ophthalmological Society - Eye Bank Association of India consensus statement on guidelines for cornea and eyebanking during COVID-19 era.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it the huge burden of mortality and morbidity across the world and the added effects of the mandatory lockdown measures to try and control the spread. A number of aspects of healthcare including eye donation and eye collection require adequate safety precautions in place to keep both the involved healthcare workers and patients safe. This paper highlights the consensus-based guidelines by an expert panel on how to restart eye banking and eye collection services and carry out emergency corneal surgeries during this COVID-19 time. These guidelines will be applicable to all eye banks across the country and should help ophthalmologists and eye banking staff to restart eye banking while safeguarding themselves and their patients.
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Telemedicine and tele-ophthalmology have been in existence since many years, but have recently gained more importance in the present scenario of pandemic COVID-19. The attitude and perception of the doctors and patients has been changing gradually. Telemedicine has many advantages including providing care in inaccesible areas. ⋯ Furthermore, the demand and use of teleconsulation had increased presently in this area of pandemic. Recent survey conducted by the All India Ophthalmological Society also reveals that many ophthalmologists who have not used tele-ophthalmology in the past are more keen to use it presently. In this article, we have reviewed telemedicine and tele-ophthalmology literature on Google and PubMed to get a holistic idea towards teleconsultation, its advantages, increased importance and prefrence during COVID-19 pandemic and various barriers faced so that the known challenges can be understood, which can pave way for better understanding and future incorporation into practice.
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Indian J Ophthalmol · Jul 2020
ReviewA review of long-term corneal preservation techniques: Relevance and renewed interests in the COVID-19 era.
The growth of eye banking in India was showing positive trends until the nation was hit by unprecedented times as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of this has led to a downward spiraling in eye banking activities globally. ⋯ This review discusses various methods of long term corneal preservation, their relevance and applications in the present times. We reviewed relevant medical literature in English from PUBMED with the key words "Corneal preservation", "Cryopreservation", "Glycerol preservation", Gamma Irradiation", "Eye Banking" ,"COVID-19".
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Indian J Ophthalmol · Jul 2020
Practice GuidelineCommunity eye-health and vision center guidelines during COVID-19 pandemic in India.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted our society on an unprecedented scale since its inception in December 2019. As the health-care system is finally re-organizing to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, it was necessary to re-structure primary eye care (PEC) activities as well on the same lines. A consensus meeting was held with leading eye-care experts on 2nd May 2020 to prepare a roadmap for PEC in the days to come. ⋯ Because conjunctivitis may be an early sign which can present at VCs, extra precautions in the form of PPE has to be ensured while examining such patients. This is also an opportunity to start running telemedicine clinics for all emergent cases that cannot be managed at the primary level. The guidelines also need to be updated based on the context of the working environment and changes in government directives from time to time.
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Indian J Ophthalmol · Jul 2020
Glycerol-preserved corneal tissue in emergency corneal transplantation: An alternative for fresh corneal tissue in COVID-19 crisis.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the eye banks have limited/stopped corneal collection, as this is a highly contagious disease. This has led to shortage of donor corneas worldwide. Glycerol preservation of tissue remains a viable option in this scenario. The objective is to compare fresh corneal tissue (FCT) with glycerol-preserved cornea (GPC) in emergency corneal transplantation. ⋯ The GPC is comparable to FCTs in therapeutic transplant and can be a useful interim procedure in saving the eyes in cases of infective keratitis in the time of crisis.