Cadaver storage time. An important factor in donor cornea survival

J. R. McKinnon and G. D. Walters

The effects of cadaver storage on endothelial survival are assessed by the temperature reversal effect in rabbit eyes. Eyes removed at death show little deterioration after one week of refrigerator storage. Eyes left in the cadaver from one to four hours after death show increasing deterioration with time in the body; the deterioration becomes more pronounced as the days of refrigerator storage increase. The sooner an eye is removed from the body, the more reliably it will survive refrigerator storage.