title: Experimental studies on penetrating heterokeratoplasty with human corneal grafts in monkey eyes.
abstract: In nine rhesus monkeys, human corneal grafts were used for penetrating keratoplasty in one eye of each. The data were divided into three groups according to the size of grafts. Group 1 (n = 3) received 5.5-mm human corneal grafts in 5.0-mm recipient beds; group 2 (n = 3) received 6.2-mm human corneal grafts in 6.0-mm beds; and group 3 (n = 3) received 7.5-mm grafts in 7.0-mm beds. Five of nine eyes in groups 1 and 2 (55%) maintained graft clarity for more than 1 year, but only two of the three in group 1 maintained clear human corneal grafts for 32 and 36 months, respectively. However, the three grafts in the third group maintained transparency for only 4-7 months. Our findings suggest that xenogeneic corneal grafts may have a greater success rate in humans than previously believed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016510:Corneal Neovascularization / Q000473:pathology; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous