Wound-healing of the corneal endothelium in the monkey: a morphometric study.

Topographical aspects and the time course of the healing processes in the corneal endothelium were studied in 31 cynomolgus monkey eyes. The corneal endothelium was damaged at the center by transcorneal freezing, using a probe with a tip diameter of 2.5 mm. Flat preparations of the endothelium stained with silver nitrate were made at various time intervals after freezing. Panoramic photographs of the corneal endothelium along the entire length of one meridian were made, and the sizes of individual cells were calculated by a computerized image analyzer. The size and shape of the endothelial cells showed marked changes around the wound edge, and the cells migrated to the duodenal area, which was covered by the endothelial cells in 3 days. Subsequently, the cell size distribution recovered toward the normal pattern, but multinucleated giant cells persisted in the center of the wound after one year. A slow enlargement of the cells occurred in the periphery, where final average cell size was about 25% larger than the original level. It was thought that the cells of a very wide area were mobilized in the wound-healing processes and that cell proliferation probably played a minor role.