title: Overnight swelling of the living human cornea.
abstract: The overnight corneal swelling of nine subjects was measured with an electronic digital pachometer. Corneal thickness measurements were taken just before eye closure and after seven hours of sleep. Post-sleep recovery to original corneal thickness was followed. Results showed overnight corneal swelling to be about 4 1/2% with logarithmic recovery to baseline within the first hour after eye opening. Considerable variability in the magnitude of overnight swelling among human corneas was indicated. A review of current theories on the cause of overnight corneal swelling is also included.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012890:Sleep; D013997:Time Factors