Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of daily wear contact lenses in the treatment of infantile aphakia.
Design: A study of prognosis using a cohort followed up for a mean of 58 months.
Setting: All operations, contact lens care, and follow-up were conducted at a university referral center.
Patients: Of 111 children undergoing surgery for cataract between 1980 and 1990, 51 (68 eyes) met the criteria of age younger than 2 years at the time of surgery and of cataract of nontraumatic origin. Patients were evaluated for visual acuity, complications, number of contact lenses worn per year, and changes in contact lens refractive power per month. A subgroup of 28 eyes of patients undergoing surgery before age 7 months and followed up for at least 24 months was studied.
Intervention: Following cataract surgery, all patients were fitted with daily wear contact lenses.
Main outcome measure: Final visual acuity and complications were studied. The distribution of mean contact lens power for each month of age was determined.
Results: During the follow-up period, no serious complications were encountered. The visual acuity outcome was better following bilateral cataract surgery than unilateral surgery (P < .001 using chi 2 analysis) and was comparable with that achieved with extended wear contact lenses.
Conclusion: Daily wear contact lenses were found to be safe and effective in the treatment of infantile surgical aphakia. The daily care was easily learned by the parents.