Microbial decontamination of human donor eyes with povidone-iodine: penetration, toxicity, and effectiveness

Abstract

Immersion of human donor eyes in 5 mg/ml PVP-I solution for 2 minutes significantly reduces microbial contamination of donor corneas without relevant penetration of iodine into the corneal layers. Higher PVP-I concentrations and longer immersion times do not further reduce contamination, whereas the amount of iodine penetrating the corneal layers is elevated above the level cytotoxic for corneal fibroblasts. In view of this, concentrations above 5 mg/ml of PVP-I and immersion periods over 2 minutes are not recommended for reduction of the contamination rate of donor eyes.