Initial healing of the posterior corneal surface following perforating trauma in guinea pig: a scanning electron microscope study.

Using a scanning electron microscope, we have studied the healing of the posterior corneal surface after a small perforating trauma. Both corneas of adult guinea pigs were perforated with a needle and studied at various time intervals during recovery. Thirty minutes after the perforation the wound was sealed with a fibrous plug. Leukocytes adhered to the wounded area from the first day of healing on, but usually most of them disappeared after the third day. Fibroblast-like cells were present during the entire healing process from the first day on. Endothelial cells at the margin of the wound lost their hexagonal shape and began to slide over the plug. In 7 days the wound was completely covered by irregularly arranged endothelium. The endothelial cells did not reach their regular arrangement during the 14-day follow-up period.