[Study on the tissue compatibility of intracorneal horn lenses in experimental animals (author's transl)]

Horn lenses, manufactured from human toenail donor material were implanted intracorneally in 15 rabbits. The thickness of the lenses ranged 0.08 to 0.2 mm, the diameter from 4.5 to 7 mm. 13 lenses were fenestrated, two were not. Within 6 months, growth of corneal tissue into fenestrations of the lenses occurred but no signs of aseptic necrosis were seen histologically. The boundary layer between stroma and horn lens revealed apposition as well as ingrowth of tissue in electron-microscopic studies. Unguinal tissue may be useful in keratoprosthesis on the basis of its permeability to glucose, lack of foreign body-activity and hydrophilia.