Electron Microscopic Observations of the Early Development of the Human Corneal Endothelium and Descemet’s Membrane

A Histomorphometric Study of Corneal Endothelial Cells in Normal Human Fetuses

“…By term it was observed that the fetal corneal endothelium consists of enlarged hexagonal cells with abundant cytoplasm, assuming a more regular arrangement. These observations correspond with previous reports (Wu È lle and Lerche, 1969;Wu È lle, 1972). For quanti®cation of these histologic observations, we used a computer-assisted image analysis.…”

“…However, these results have been limited to the postnatal period. There have been few reports on the development of corneal endothelium during the prenatal period (Wu È lle and Lerche, 1969;Lee, 1975;Murphy et al, 1984;Ko et al, 2000). In addition, only two quantitative studies (Murphy et al, 1984) have reported on the corneal endothelial density in the human fetus.…”

Histology of microcornea complicated by bullous keratopathy

“…Type VIII collagenous fibers with periodic striated structure also become well-defined on the sectional face at this time. The thickness and morphology of the banded zone resembles that of the adult at this time (Wulle 1972). The non-banded zone of Descemet's membrane is made up of Type IV collagens that do not fibrose as do the interstitial collagens.…”

Corneal Development

“…2C). 21,32 This process differs in rodents, cats, rabbits, and cattle where the periocular neural crest cells migrate in a single wave of mesenchyme, after which only the cells closest to the lens vesicle undergo a mesenchyme-to-epithelial transition and coalesce to form a singleendothelial layer. 33 Morphogenesis of the corneal endothelium is well studied in chick.…”