MORPHOLOGIC CHANGES OF K‐SOL PRESERVED HUMAN CORNEAS

Supplementation of tissue culture medium with chon-droitin sulfate has been shown to enhance donor corneal preservation. We assessed the efficacy of one of these chondroitin-supplemented media (K-Sol) in comparison with McCarey-Kaufman (MK) medium in maintaining corneal cellular morphology. Thirty-six human corneas, obtained within 8.6 h after death, were placed into K-Sol medium for up to 20 days preservation, and five paired control corneas were placed into MK medium for up to 6 days preservation. Specular photomicrographs were obtained every second to third day for a predetermined stor-age interval, then studied morphologically in a masked protocol by light microscopy, transmission electron mi-croscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Endothelial cell loss by specular microscopy averaged 5.8% after 1 week (6 to 8 days) and 7.4% after 13 days in K-Sol me-dium. Epithelial changes were erratic throughout the 20 day K-Sol preservation period. However, substantial keratocyte changes occurred after 10 days, and endothe-lial morphology uniformly deteriorated after 17 days. The morphologic data suggest that human corneas may be able to be preserved in K-Sol medium at 4A°C for up to 10 days but should be cautiously used thereafter.