OBTAINING DONOR CORNEAS WITHOUT THE BULB

The goal of the present study was to compare the quality of 7-mm corne al buttons taken directly from donor eyes with commonly obtained trans plants. Seven-mm porcine corneal specimens and 16-mm corno-scleral spe cimens were immersed for 3 and 7 days in Optisol culture medium. After 3 days, ultrasonic pachometry revealed a decline to 73% of the origin al thickness in the 7-mm and to 83% in the 16-mm specimens. After 8 da ys, the thickness in both groups had returned to 91% of the original v alues. Light microscopy revealed a homogeneous endothelial layer in bo th groups. Staining with 0.25% Trypan blue revealed only a few dead ce lls. The 7-mm specimens exhibited fewer wrinkles in Descemet's membran e than the 16-mm specimens. Scanning electron microscopy of human 7-mm corneal specimens,some obtained directly from donor eyes and stored i n Optisol and some trephined from 16-mm corneoscleral specimens after immersion, detected uniformly smooth cutting edges in both groups. Eve n the endothelia displayed no marked differences. Our results show tha t the quality of donor specimens removed at the desired size in situ a nd stored in Optisol equals that of commonly obtained specimens. Furth er investigations must show the feasibility of this procedure in pract ice.