Genetic counseling practice for inherited eye diseases in an Israeli medical center during the COVID-19 pandemic.

J Genet Couns

Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Hadassah Medical Center, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Published: August 2021

Inherited eye diseases (IED) are among the most common causes for childhood and young adulthood blindness in developed countries. Genetic counseling and testing have become an essential part of caregiving for families affected by one of these severe ocular pathologies. The objective of our study is to describe our experience during the 2020 (COVID-19) pandemic, following a practice protocol of safe genetic counseling for inherited ophthalmic diseases. We conducted a review of the genetic counseling practices from January until December 2020 in a multidisciplinary clinic for patients with visual impairment, in a tertiary hospital. The new protocol covered patient screening, required personal protective equipment, and the implementation of telemedicine. One hundred and eighty-three counseling sessions were done in this period of time; 33/183 were telemedicine counseling. The results of this study indicate that the practice of genetic counseling in regard to inherited eye diseases in the era of COVID-19 is effective and safe. Despite the high risk of infectivity that threatened healthcare professionals, safety measures adopted to reduce the risk of infection allowed us to prevent the cancelation of routine counseling, while keeping patient care our priority. The use of telemedicine was a very useful tool for providing counseling during lockdown periods in 2020.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8426981PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jgc4.1479DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

genetic counseling
20
inherited eye
12
eye diseases
12
covid-19 pandemic
8
counseling
8
genetic
5
counseling practice
4
inherited
4
practice inherited
4
diseases
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!