ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To explore the relationship between corneal thickness and postmortem interval (PMI) in rabbit.@*METHODS@#The rabbit model was established by air embolism. The rabbit cornea was sampled at 6-hour-interval from 0 to 72 h postmortem. After routine HE staining, the whole cornea image was collected by the optical microscope. Three markers were observed including corneal epithelial thickness (x1), corneal stromal thickness (x2) and whole corneal thickness (x3) using Motic Images Plus 2.0 image analysis software and the data were statistically analyzed to establish the regression function with PMI (y).@*RESULTS@#Within 72 h postmortem, rabbit corneal stromal thickness and whole corneal thickness increased at 12h postmortem and reached the peak at 54h postmortem. The two markers showed positive correlation with PMI. The regression functions of the two markers were y = -0.070 2 x2(2) +11.398 x2 + 1634 (R2 = 0.712 2, P < 0.05) and y = -0.074 9 x3(2) +12.036 x3 + 1819.4 (R = 0.675 0, P < 0.05), respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#The two markers of corneal stromal thickness and the whole corneal thickness showed the strong linear correlation with PMI. The correlation of the corneal stromal thickness is better than the whole corneal thickness. The two markers can be used to estimate PMI.