Screening of human corneas for herpes simplex virus by tissue culture and polymerase chain reaction.

Superficial eye infections by herpes simplex virus (HSV) constitute a major cause of corneal disease, necessitating the need for corneal transplantation in many patients. Eighty-three corneas from 46 post-mortem donors received from the David Lucas Eye Bank in Manchester were analyzed by Vero cell culture and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to detect HSV. There was no evidence of a characteristic cytopathic effect in any of the cultures. A 350-bp PCR product corresponding to the HSV thymidine kinase (TK) was detected by southern blotting in only 2.4% (2/83) of samples. In contrast, approximately 70% of samples yielded a 758-bp PCR product. Although this low prevalence of HSV in corneas may be encouraging, it is high for the actual transplantation program if the viral DNAs maintain their abilities to replicate.