Experimental and clinical studies on corneal grafts from donors dying of drug overdose: a review.

In order to determine whether or not corneal tissues from donors dying of drug overdose are safe to be used as grafts, animal experiments and a small retrospective clinical study (in which the patients received corneal grafts from donors dying of drug overdose) were done. In rabbits, the drug (ethanol, phenobarbital, pentobarbital, methyprylon, salicylate, or morphine) was injected intravenously in one lethal or sublethal dose. The quantity of the agent was determined in various eye tissues using appropriate techniques. Rabbits were also grafted interlamellarly with full-thickness corneas from animals dying from drug overdose. Concentrations of the agent that reduced cellular proliferation and protein synthesis to 50% were determined using corneal cell culture. Chemical analysis of some eyes of Coroner's cases was done. In animals, all grafts carried the drug to the recipient eye, but none of them (except a few from donors killed with phenobarbital) became opaque or produced any abnormal eye reaction. Only salicylate was found in the cornea and aqueous humor of the drugged animals in a cytotoxic concentration, but only for a short time. Ethanol was found in human eyes for up to 4 days. Clinical investigation revealed no obvious relationship between graft failure and drug content of the donor's blood.