title: Serological viral testing of cadaveric cornea donors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cornea graft recipients are exposed to viral transmission from the donor. Cadaveric donor serum is often of poor quality and frequently yields falsely positive results in serological assays that may result in the graft being needlessly discarded.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We examined the influence of the time of blood collection after death, and the macroscopic aspect of serum, on serological test results in cadaveric cornea donors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred sixty-five consecutive cadaveric cornea donors were systematically tested for serological markers of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and 2, human T-cell leukemia virus type 1, hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (HCV). We studied the influence of the macroscopic aspect of the donor's serum and the time of blood collection after death on the results of serological testing and on the subsequent decision to use or discard the graft.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one and a half percent of corneas were rejected on the basis of virological test results. We found significant relationships between the macroscopic aspect of serum at the time of testing and: (i) a positive, equivocal or discrepant result of immunoassays, for all markers except anti-HCV antibodies, (ii) non acceptance of cornea grafts, and (iii) the time of blood sampling after death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The macroscopic aspect of postmortem blood samples is the best predictor of the specificity of serological testing in cornea donors. Serological results should be interpreted with care when serum is macroscopically abnormal, and cadaveric donors should not be sampled more than 12 hr after death.
authors.affiliation: Viral Emergency and Organ, Tissue, and Cell Donor Screening Laboratory, Department of Virology, INSERM U635, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Université Paris 12, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Challine
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Roudot-Thoraval
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sabatier
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dubernet
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Larderie
authors.forename: Pierrette
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rigot
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pawlotsky
mesh_terms: D002102:Cadaver; D003315:Cornea / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006678:HIV / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D019520:Living Donors; D014019:Tissue Donors