Regional specular microscopy.
It was originally assumed that endothelial damage associated with radial keratotomy occurred at the time of surgery. However, Yamaguchi and his associates suggested that there is an ongoing loss of endothelial cells related to repetitive stretching of the posterior cornea. Endothelial cell densities can be monitored by specular microscopy of the central cornea, but it is possible that regional endothelial cell losses occur in the peripheral areas near the incisions, and that these changes are not reflected in the central areas until some time after surgery.
D002452:Cell Count; D003315:Cornea / Q000166:cytology* / Q000601:surgery; D004727:Endothelium / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*