Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Ocular Tissue Donation in a Teaching Hospital

Objectives: To analyze the impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic on ocular tissue donations, assessing lost opportunities for potential donors due to the suspension of collections and changes in eligibility criteria, as well as hospital eligibility rates of donors and causes of non-donation. Methods: Data from patients who died in cardiopulmonary arrest in a Brazilian university hospital in 2020 were analyzed. The number of donations made, the number of deaths potentially eligible for donation, and the causes of non-donation were compared during the three periods of 2020: period 1, pre-pandemic ( January 1 to March 18, 2020), period 2, with suspension of donations in cardiorespiratory arrest (March 19 to September 19, 2020), and period 3, of collections with epidemiological screening for SARS-CoV-2 and reduction of the age range of donors less than 65 years old (September 20 to December 31 2020). Results: There were 710 circulatory deaths in 2020. The hospital eligibility rate was 5.7% among 140 deaths in the pre-pandemic period 1, 11.9% among 395 patients during the suspension of uptake in pandemic period 2, and 3.4% among 175 patients during age group restrictions and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) screening (p:0.004). Forty-seven patients who died in period 2 represented a loss of donation opportunities due to the suspension of collections, and 13 (7.6%) of the 175 patients in period 3 were ineligible due to the reduction in age group. Due to pandemic restrictions, eighty-one percent of the 75 eligible patients without clinical contraindications had limited tissue donation offers. Only one patient was considered ineligible for donation due to clinical-epidemiological screening for SARS-CoV-2. Serious infections were the leading cause of non-donation in 50.7, 48.1, and 47.4% of deaths in the three periods (p:0.615). Conclusion: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic significantly affected the procurement of ocular tissues for transplants due to the restrictive measures implemented for safety reasons, leading to the loss of donation opportunities for 81% of families. Age restrictions significantly reduced potential donor eligibility rates. Serious infections were the leading cause of non-donation of ocular tissue, but it did not increase significantly in this study during the pandemic, in the period studied.