Uses of thrombin in ocular surgery. Effect on the corneal endothelium
M. J. Mannis, E. Sweet, M. B. Landers 3rd and R. A. Lewis
Department of Ophthalmology, University of California Davis, Sacramento 95816.
Thrombin is a hemostatic factor that induces platelet aggregation and
catalyzes the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin. The potential for its
increasing application to a variety of anterior and posterior segment
surgery led us to investigate the in vitro effect of thrombin on the
corneal endothelium in a sheep model. We examined freshly excised sheep
corneas stained with alizarin red and trypan blue after exposure to two
different concentrations of thrombin for four hours. The structure of the
corneal endothelium appeared to be intact even after prolonged exposure to
thrombin at concentrations of 100 and 1000 U/mL. Thrombin appears to be
nontoxic to the corneal endothelium in this experimental model.