A counsellor at a hospital cornea retrieval programme explains eye donation to the family of a deceased patient. To obtain corneas of optimal quality for penetrating keratoplasty, enucleation or in situ corneal excision should ideally be performed within how many hours of death?
- A 48 hours
- B 24 hours
- C 6 hours ✓
- D 1 hour
Correct answer: C. 6 hours
Explanation
Corneas are best retrieved within about 6 hours of death, before endothelial cell loss and stromal oedema compromise graft clarity. Retrieval beyond this window progressively reduces suitability for optical keratoplasty, although tissue may still serve therapeutic or tectonic purposes. One hour is unnecessarily restrictive and reduces the practical donor pool, while 24 and 48 hours exceed the accepted window for high-quality optical grafts.
Reference: Khurana's Comprehensive Ophthalmology, 7th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.