Deswelling of the graft cornea following hypoxic oedema.

Both corneas of 12 unilateral graft patients were subjected to 9% hypoxic oedema. Following removal of the hypoxic stimulus, the grafted corneas deswelled at a significantly slower rate (P less than 0.01) than the fellow unoperated corneas. We suggest that this can be attributed to a change in the barrier properties and/or pump efficiency of the endothelium. Monitoring corneal deswelling following hypoxic oedema could form the basis of a clinical test of corneal endothelial function.