Medium Term Preservation of Corneal Tissue for Grafting

Abstract

This study was prompted by two considerations. First, the feeling that for obvious reasons the need for a method to preserve corneal tissue for transplantation is still urgent. There are several methods available which provide for tissues to be used successfully for lamellar grafts. These tissues, however, are nonviable and are not suitable for penetrating grafts. Second, the possibility of reducing the antigenicity of the donor material, which is commonly held responsible for some of the failures in corneal grafting operations, appears to be worth further investigating. We have been able to report considerable progress in preserving viability of frozen corneal tissue over prolonged periods of time.¹We also have been able to demonstrate that the host tissue reaction was different whether fresh or frozen tissue was implanted.²Although the results of animal grafting operations with the frozen donor material almost approximated the result with fresh tissue, we