Abstract
Purpose::
To determine the effect of ocular surgery on HSV-DNA asymptomatic shedding in tears, we assessed the frequency of HSV-DNA asymptomatic shedding and quantified the HSV-DNA copy numbers in tears pre- and post-operatively.
Methods::
Subjects were 48 patients (19 men,29 women, mean age : 63.4±12.3 years) who underwent ocular surgery between May and November in 2006. The recruited subjects consisted of 13 patients who underwent phacoemulsification and aspiration (PEA) with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation (Group A); 13 patients who received penetrating keratoplasty (PKP; Group B); and 22 patients who were performed with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV; Group C). Tear samples were collected from both the operated and non-operated eyes of all subjects on the day before operation, the day after operation, and a week after operation (a total of 288 samples). We performed the real-time polymerase chain reaction assay (real-time PCR) to assess the frequency of asymptomatic shedding in tears and HSV-DNA copy number.
Results::
Of the total 288 samples, 39 were detected with virus (13.5%) and HSV-DNA copy number was 4.05±8.61×104(mean±S.D.). In Group A, HSV- DNA was detected in 8 of 78 samples(10.3%) with 1.01±0.96×103 copies/sample. In Group B, HSV- DNA was detected in 11 of 78 samples (14.1%) with 3.04±4.96×103 copies/sample. In Group C, HSV- DNA was detected in 20 of 132 samples(15.2%) with 7.69±10.9×104 copies/sample. None of the three groups had shown any significant difference in HSV-DNA copy number before and after ocular surgery.
Conclusions::
No significant pre- and post-operative differences were seen in either the number of positive samples or HSV-DNA copy number in all three groups. Further studies are required to determine the effect of ocular surgery on HSV-DNA asymptomatic shedding in tears.
Keywords: herpes simplex virus