Question:easy
Which layer of the cornea helps in the hydration (deturgescence) of the corneal stroma?
Which layer of the cornea helps in the hydration (deturgescence) of the corneal stroma?
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The innermost single cell layer runs an active pump that keeps the cornea clear.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Endothelium
- Epithelium
- Descemet membrane
- Stroma
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Pump-leak shortcut. Corneal clarity depends on keeping the stroma slightly dehydrated. Two forces compete: the stroma wants to soak up water (the leak), and something must bail that water out (the pump). The structure that does the bailing is the corneal endothelium.
This single posterior cell layer uses active ion transport to pull fluid out of the stroma. When endothelial cell counts fall, for instance after surgery or in Fuchs dystrophy, the pump fails, the stroma swells and the cornea goes cloudy. That clinical fact alone tells you the endothelium owns hydration control.
Eliminate the rest: epithelium is a passive surface barrier, Descemet membrane is just the basement membrane on which the endothelium rests, and the stroma is the tissue being regulated, not the regulator. Therefore the answer is the endothelium. Ref: Corneal Endothelial Pump literature.
This single posterior cell layer uses active ion transport to pull fluid out of the stroma. When endothelial cell counts fall, for instance after surgery or in Fuchs dystrophy, the pump fails, the stroma swells and the cornea goes cloudy. That clinical fact alone tells you the endothelium owns hydration control.
Eliminate the rest: epithelium is a passive surface barrier, Descemet membrane is just the basement membrane on which the endothelium rests, and the stroma is the tissue being regulated, not the regulator. Therefore the answer is the endothelium. Ref: Corneal Endothelial Pump literature.
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