In vivo determination of endothelial permeability to water

Abstract

A method for in vivo estimation of endothelial permeability to water in the cornea was developed. An experiment wherein the cornea behaved as an osmometer permitted a time sequence analysis of osmotically induced corneal thinning data to be performed. This was carried out by using the integrated form of the volume flow equation for a two membrane-three compartment model which was found to describe the thinning of the cornea remarkably well. Analysis of thinning curves yielded estimates of water permeability which compared well with values previously obtained by an in vitro technique for the limiting barriers of the cornea. Measurements from traumatized corneas indicated that the method is sensitive enough to detect small changes in barrier function