Standardization of the exclusion criteria for the HTLV I and II in brazilian eye banks

ABSTRACT

Objective:

Investigate in which eye banks in Brazil the HTLV I and II is used as exclusion criteria for cornea. Nowadays Brazilian Legislation, through Law nº 9.434/97 and Ordinance 2600/09 determines that for each donation, laboratory screening tests of high sensibility must be done mandatorily for detection of markers of infectious diseases transmissible by blood: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HbsAg), Antibody of the Hepatitis B Virus (AntiHBs), Antibody of total Hepatitis B Virus (total Anti- HBc) and Hepatitis C Virus (Anti-HCV), however, paragraph a of Chapter VI, Art. 47 excludes the HTLV as exclusion criteria for cornea donors.

Methods:

For the realization of this research, information from 35 eye banks was analyzed, through the database of the Transplant Central of Paraiba, evaluated through the Chi-Square Homogeneity Test.

Results:

It was observed that the positive serology for HTLV I and II was considered exclusion criteria in 18 of the 35 eye banks analyzed. In relation to the geographic analysis of the Eye Banks in Brazil, the ones in the Northeastern and Southern regions were the ones that most considered the HTLV as exclusion criteria.

Conclusion:

The analyzed Eye Banks did not present difference or significant association between the ones that consider and the ones that do not consider this criterion, showing, this way, that there is not a standardization among the Eye Banks in Brazil.

Keywords:
Tissue donors; Cornea; Eye banks/standards; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1