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Undetected Herpes Simplex Inflammation Can Impact Corneal Transplant SAN FRANCISCO -- July 2, 2009 -- Patients with undetected inflammation caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV) may increase the risk of corneal transplant rejection, according to a study published in the July issue of Ophthalmology. Physicians knew transplants were more likely to fail in people with HSV than in patients with other disorders, such as keratoconus. This higher failure rate occurred even when HSV infection did not appear to be active in patients. Researchers at the Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, theorised that such patients might have corneal inflammation that could not be detected upon clinical examination but might increase the risk of transplant rejection. To test this theory, a study led by Victor M. Elner, MD, examined the corneal tissue, removed during surgery, of 62 patients treated at Kellogg Eye Center between 1990 and 2000 to identify inflammation biomarkers that might be linked to rejection of transplants. Unlike organ transplants, in corneal procedures the new tissue is placed on a bed of existing tissue. Though HSV had been inactive for 6 months before surgery in 81% of patients, microscopic evidence of inflammation was found in 74%, and the transplant failure rate did indeed correlate with the presence of this biomarker. Testing for inflammatory biomarkers will help Ophthalmologists predict whether a patient with HSV is likely to reject a transplant. "It is also possible that treating inflammation intensively before corneal transplant surgery would reduce the risk of rejection," said lead author Roni M. Shtein, MD, Kellogg Eye Center SOURCE: American Academy of Ophthalmology E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version