The functional reserve of corneal endothelium.

With recent advances in our knowledge of corneal physiology, coupled with the development and increasing availability of the specular microscope as a clinical instrument, valid observations relating the morphologic appearance of the corneal endothelium to its functional capacity are within our reach. Manual methods of data analysis are cumbersome, time consuming, and associated with human error and investigator bias. The Omnicon pattern analysis system lends itself to objective analysis of morphologic features, offers the possibility of quantifying the data obtained and, hopefully, will lead to a better understanding of the many aspects of endothelial cell morphology which, in total, relate to the functional reserve of a given cornea.