What happens to the human eye if the heart and brain stop working?

How long does a donated cornea last?

According to the Eye Bank Association of America (EBA), corneas can be transplanted up to 14 days after the donor's death, but in practice, most transplants take place within a week. According to the American Union of Organ Donors (DA), the maximum waiting time for the heart and lungs is from 4 to 6 hours; liver from 8 to 12 hours; kidney 24 to 36 hours. Until now, much is still unknown about "dead eyes" or "lifeless eyes", except that responsible people such as crime scene investigators can understand something related but This rate is not much.

Human eyes contain a lot of 'live' data even in death

What happens after the "eyes close"?

According to the American medical journal, The Healthy, after many years of research, Dr. Judy Melinek, an American forensic pathologist, found that many people die when the eyes are open, the whites of the eyes gradually dry, turn to blue or gray. This phenomenon is known professionally as "tache noir". It is an integral part of forensic panel investigations. The phenomenon of gray eyes that arise a few hours after death, or "empty" like a zombie, scares people. When someone dies with their eyes open, the eyeball is exposed to dry air, which dehydrates the iris and causes the eye to change color shortly thereafter.

The overlay effect begins to set in just a few hours after breathing stops. The cornea, the transparent outer layer of the eye, becomes contaminated with dry air and debris when the eyelids lie motionless. Over the next few hours or days, this gradually increases, causing the eyes to become increasingly opaque gray. With enough time, the eyeball begins to recede into the skull when all reflexes and blood flow to the eye are cut off, thus resulting in a "deep sunken eye socket". It's like when you lose sleep, your eyes seem to be obscured and turn dark circles.

How to identify dead eyes?

According to the American online journal of ophthalmology, Review of Optometry (RoO), there is, in fact, a set of criteria to determine the cause of death by examining the victim's eyes. For example, by studying the degree of opacity of the cornea, or what causes the grayish discoloration, scientists can determine how long a person died. If the eyes are only slightly discolored, it may be only a few hours since the subject died. However, if there isn't any blur left, then the subject most likely passed away a few days earlier. A more precise method is to measure the increased potassium concentration in the eyes of the cadavers.

Regarding the cause of death, the eyes also provide many reliable data that other parts of the anatomy do not have. For example, purpura is tiny broken capillaries that appear on both the conjunctiva and the eyelids, most likely the victim was strangled. Therefore, if the investigation observes some of these marks, it is very likely that the person was murdered by suffocation. "They are caused by an increase in hydrostatic pressure in the capillaries. In addition, there are many forms of asphyxiation such as strangulation or chest compressions, or they can also be caused by pressure built up from heart failure or sudden cardiac death." , Dr. Randy Hanzlik adds.