Extreme temporary thinning after keratoplasty of organ-cultured corneas

Many investigators have measured corneal thickness after keratoplasty using organ culture and storage mediums. Values for corneal thickness were found to stabilize 6-12 months postoperatively, reaching normal values. We followed 59 corneal transplant recipients whose donor tissue was obtained from organ culture (average preservation time 13 days) for > 1 year retrospectively. The overall graft survival was 95.3%. The graft was thick in the early postoperative period. It subsequently became thinner, reaching the lowest level 5-9 months postoperatively (mean 0.48 mm, SD 0.04). After this period the corneas gradually became thicker and reached the normal corneal thickness. The extreme thinning of transplanted corneas in the first postoperative year has not been described before. We found a negative correlation between conservation time and thickness 5-9 months postoperatively. We postulate that organ culture may have a high impact on keratocyte function.