摘要：Rabbit eye was irradiated with an ultraviolet laser beam to study its effects on the corneal epithelium and endothelium. The right eye was irradiated with an Excimer laser beam (XeCl gas) of 308nm wave length with an energy intensity of 4.0J/cm2, with six rabbits being used. Their fellow eyes were used as controls. In histological examination, the eye-ball was enucleated immediatly after irradiation. The cornea was fixed in 10% formalin, embedded in paraffin and then sectioned. The sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and toluidine blue and then examined by light microscopy. In scanning electron microscopic examination, the eye-ball was bisected. After fixation in glutaraldehyde phosphate buffered solution at 4.0°C, the sections were dehydrated with acetone and dried. After drying to the critical point of dryness, the endothelium was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The results obtained were as follows: 1. Histological examination of corneal epithlium and corneal endothelium. The cornea of the control eyes was composed of the outermost surface layer with a flat 2-layered structure of superficial cells, the middle layer with a 2-to-3-layered structure of polygonal wing cells and the innermost layer with a tall single-layered structure of basal cells. The Bowman's membrane was lightly stained. Its stroma was composed of collagen fiber bundles arranged tightly in layers and a few keratocyte cells. The corneal endothelial cells were in contact with the anterior chamber via the Descemet's membrane. The irradiated eyes developed ciliary injection and iritis immediately after irradiation. These symptoms persisted until 120 hours later. Light microscopy revealed detachment of surface cells and disarrayed formation of wing cells.
