Complications associated with bovine corneal endothelial cell-lined homografts in the cat.

Abstract

Cultured bovine corneal endothelial cells were subcultured onto feline corneas from which the native endothelium had been mechanically removed, and transplanted into cats via penetrating keratoplasty. Although the transplants remained thin and clear in the immediate postoperative period, correlative clinical and morphologic analysis disclosed evidence of a host response directed against the heterologous endothelium by the ninth postoperative day. Eyes with rotational autografts or transplanted homografts did not disclose evidence of a similar host response.