rss
Br J Ophthalmol 1996;80:144-147 doi:10.1136/bjo.80.2.144
  • Research Article

Increase in corneal epithelial cell size with extended wear soft contact lenses depends on continuous wearing time.

  1. K Tsubota,
  2. S Hata,
  3. I Toda,
  4. Y Yagi,
  5. M Sakata and
  6. J Shimazaki
  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Dental College, Japan.

      Abstract

      AIM: Although 1 week of continuous wearing time (CWT) is recommended for extended wear soft contact lenses (EWSCL), there have been few studies concerning the appropriateness of this or other CWTs. The current study was undertaken to examine the effect of various CWTs on the cornea by observing the corneal epithelium. METHODS: Specular microscopy was used to evaluate corneal epithelial changes induced by EWSCL in 19 myopic patients (24.0 (SD 6.7) years), divided into four groups: CWT of 0, 1, 3, and 6 days. RESULTS: The initial mean cell area was 628.2 (13.4) micron2. After 6 months this was 629.3 (28.6) micron2 for daily wear (ns), and 660.0 (40.9) micron2, 727.7 (49.6) micron2 (p < 0.01), and 815.5 (67.2) micron2 (p < 0.01) for CWT of 1, 3, and 6 days, respectively (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that the corneal epithelium changes proportionally with the CWT; the shorter the CWT, the better the epithelial morphology. This suggests that the CWT for EWSCL be minimised, so as to reduce the potential risk of contact lens related problems.

      This Article

      1. Abstract
      2. PDF

      Services

      1. Email this link to a friend
      2. Alert me when this article is cited
      3. Alert me if a correction is posted
      4. Alert me when eletters are published
      5. Article Usage Statistics
      6. Similar articles in this journal
      7. Similar articles in Web of Science
      8. Similar articles in PubMed
      9. Add article to my folders
      10. Download to citation manager
      11. Request permissions

      Responses

      1. Submit a response
      2. No responses published

      Social bookmarking

      Register for free content


      Free sample
       This recent issue is free to all users to allow everyone the opportunity to see the full scope and typical content of BJO.
      View free sample issue >>

      Free archive
      The full back archive is now available for BJO. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006, back to volume 1 issue 1.
      Register to access the free archive >>

      Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.