Use of infant and child corneas for grafting

Six corneal transplants, for which donor material was taken from infants or children, were grafted in adults with different types of corneal pathology. Acceptable mean keratometric readings of 45.8 diopters were obtained 6 months after surgery, very similar to those of grafted corneas taken from adults. After 3 years of follow-up, we found complications similar to those of corneas taken from adult donors. No technical problems were encountered while using infants' or children's donor material. We suggest that this type of donor be considered for corneal transplantation in countries where sufficient adult corneas are not available.