Anatomy and morphology of the cornea of bovine eyes from a slaughterhouse

Abstract

Over a 1-year period, isolated bovine eyes were obtained from a slaughterhouse and assessed within 3 h post mortem. The gross disposition (including damage or disease) and corneal surface characteristics (overall appearance and wettability) were assessed by visual inspection and light and scanning electron microscopy. The results from 315 eyes (assessed to be free of gross abnormalities or damage) showed that the corneal thickness was 1015 ± 104 μm (mean ± SD; n = 315). Measures on 100 of these eyes revealed corneal dimensions averaging 29.8 ± 1.3 mm horizontally and 23.9 ± 1.5 mm vertically. The horizontal corneal diameter was greater in eyes with thicker corneas (r = 0.917). Regardless of thickness, corneas evaluated within 3 h post mortem had a uniform thickness within ± 3% from center to edge. Histology and scanning electron microscopy revealed that even corneas subjectively assessed to be in good condition had relatively large numbers of exfoliating cells at the epithelial surface, indicating that the corneal surface of bovine eyes from the slaughterhouse is likely to be slightly compromised. Scanning electron microscopy showed the endothelium to be a mosaic of uniformly sized polygons of which 67.1 ± 2.7% were six-sided cells (hexagons).