STATUS OF HEPATITIS B AND C IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING OCULAR SURGERIES IN PAKISTAN- REVIEW ARTICLE

Abstract

A literature search was conducted using Google Scholar, Pak Medi Net and Pubmed databases. Two thousand three hundred and twenty three articles were found. After exclusion of irrelevant articles, only 18 articles satisfied the inclusion criteria. There were nine studies from Punjab, three from KPK and six were from Sindh. Total number of patients were 15,786. Mean age was 57.7 years. Male constituted 50.9% and females 49.05%. Immune chromatography was performed as an initial screening test. Twelve studies included patients undergoing cataract surgery and eight studies included all ocular surgeries done at a particular center. Percentage of affected females was greater in Punjab. Percentage of patients suffering from Hepatitis C was greater than B in all provinces. Highest percentage of Hepatitis C was from Jaranwala (47.6%) and lowest (2.6%) was from Dera Ismail Khan. Maximum number of hepatitis B positive individuals were from Khanpur. Hepatitis B was lowest (0.7%) in Rawalpindi.