Histochemical Changes in Endothelium of Corneas Stored in Moist Chambers

Introduction Experimental and clinical studies have shown that a normal, functioning endothelium is necessary in order to obtain successful penetrating keratoplasties.1,2This is in contrast to the good results obtained with preserved corneas in lamellar grafts1-3where the absence of corneal cells does not interfere with its transparency. It has been shown by Schaeffer,4in electron microscope studies, that swelling of mitochondria of endothelial cells of corneas preserved in moist chambers at 4 C appears at 24 hours of storage, and that irreversible structural changes occur only after 96 hours of storage. Electron microscope studies, as well as culture of cells obtained from stored or preserved corneas, made with the purpose of determining the viability of the tissue, in a sense, do not show a true picture of what is happening in the corneal endothelium as a whole because they cannot give a panoramic view of the