Comparison of anti-HCV seroprevalence of patients who underwent cataract surgery and other ophthalmic procedures

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the Anti-HCV seroprevalence in patients who underwent cataract surgery and to compare the prevalence with other ophthalmic surgery procedures. 
 Methods: Patients who underwent ophthalmic surgeries between January 2017 and January 2023 and were preoperatively screened for anti-HCV by ELISA test were included in this study. Patients who underwent cataract surgery formed the study group and other patients were compared as the control group. All data were obtained from the database of the institute and were retrospectively evaluated. 
 Results: A total of 15799 cases were included in the study, and 69.9% had cataracts whereas 30.1% had non-cataract surgery. The mean age of the patients was 63.24±16.04 years. The rate of Anti-HCV seropositive patients was 0.48% (n=53) in the cataract surgery group, and 0.42% (n=20) in those who had non-cataract surgery. However, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.696). The overall rate of Anti-HCV seropositive cases was %0.46. 
 Conclusion: Even though there was no significant difference between the two groups, the Anti-HCV was positive for almost 1 in 200 ophthalmic procedures. We strongly recommend preoperative screening due to the severity of HCV infection and the risk of surgical transmission.