1 year retrospectively. The overall graft survival was 95.3%. The graft was thick in the early postoperative period. It subsequently became thinner, reaching the lowest level 5-9 months postoperatively (mean 0.48 mm, SD 0.04). After this period the corneas gradually became thicker and reached the normal corneal thickness. The extreme thinning of transplanted corneas in the first postoperative year has not been described before. We found a negative correlation between conservation time and thickness 5-9 months postoperatively. We postulate that organ culture may have a high impact on keratocyte function.