Effect of seawater soaking on explosive cornea injury.
OBJECTIVE
To observe the changes in corneal tissue after explosive corneal injury and the effect of seawater soaking on the healing of cornea after explosive injury with the help of optical microscope.


METHODS
Make 10 similar explosive injury models of rabbit's eyeball using 10 adult grey rabbits. For each rabbit, both eyes are artificially injured through explosion; its right eye is the comparison eye and after the injury the left eye is soaked in seawater for 30 minutes. (Conduct slit lamp examinations, fluorescein dyeing, and ultrasonic cornea thickness metering on the corneas at intervals, that is, before the injury, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15 days after the injury respectively. Examine the corneas under the optical microscope and make comparisons.


RESULTS
The corneal thickness of the experiment eye becomes apparently thicker than that of the comparison eye after the injury. The corneal clouding of the former apparently aggravates compared with the latter. The healing of corneal epithelium in the injured eye is slower compared with that in the comparison eye. Comparative examination under the optical microscope shows: after the injury, the corneal tissue of the experiment eye changes distinctly, its healing is delayed and the vascularization degree becomes high in corneal stroma.


CONCLUSIONS
Scars and vascularization of various degrees will appear in corneal stroma after explosive injuries. Seawater soaking will have bad effects on the healing of the cornea injured in explosions.
Chen
Suihua
S
Department of Ophthalmology, General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, PLA , Nanjing 210002, China.
Huang
Zhenping
Z
Wang
Lili
L
Lu
Yuwen
Y
Wang
Yi
Y
D000818:Animals; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000628:therapy; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology; D065306:Corneal Injuries; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000473:pathology*; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D011817:Rabbits; D012623:Seawater