Abstract
Accurate corneal measurements are crucial in corneal refractive surgery (CRS) to ensure successful outcomes. Soft contact lens (SCL) wear may result in changes to corneal curvature and structure. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pre-operative guidelines recommend that prior to CRS, SCL wearers cease SCL wear for "at least two weeks before examination and treatment" [1]. Corneal curvature changes induced by SCL wear may take longer than two weeks to resolve. To examine the effect of SCL wear on corneal curvature before and following two weeks SCL wear cessation. To explore the possible impact of different SCL materials and years of SCL wear. Retrospective data analysis, between a group of SCL wearers (SCL: n=45); and a non-contact lens control group (NCL: n=45). Corneal curvature parameters were measured using the Pentacam (Oculus, Germany), before and following two weeks cessation of SCL wear. No significant differences in keratometry or Sagittal radius of curvature between SCL and NCL groups prior to or following SCL cessation. Tangential radius of curvature showed significant inferior steepening for the SCL group prior to SCL cessation (SCL vs. NCL; 7.77±0.30mm vs. 7.90±0.30mm; p=0.04). Following two weeks cessation of SCL wear this appeared to have resolved. Two weeks cessation of SCL wear appears sufficient for resolution of corneal curvature changes with modern SCL materials and years of SCL wear. However, further studies with longer lens deprivation periods are required to ensure stability for all SCL wearing patients.
Highlights
Accurate corneal measurements are crucial in corneal refractive surgery (CRS) to ensure successful outcomes
The time required for resolution of these changes can vary according to contact lens (CL) material, modality and length of previous CL wear [24].The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines recommend that Soft contact lens (SCL) are left out for at least two weeks prior to initial consultation, no specific guidelines are given in relation to SCL type, modality or previous years of SCL wear [1].To the author’s knowledge, no published study has examined retrospective findings from a SCL group of various lens materials and years of SCL wear and evaluated corneal stability following two weeks lens cessation, in relation to a non-contact lens control group (NCL) group
This finding is in agreement with authors who reported increased irregularity of corneal curvature and corneal warpage or pseudo-keratoconic topography with SCL wear [6, 11, 12].Contact lens-induced corneal warpage is evident with rigid CL wear but up to 27.5% of reported cases have been associated with SCL wear [3, 34,35,36,37]
Summary
Accurate corneal measurements are crucial in corneal refractive surgery (CRS) to ensure successful outcomes. Soft contact lens (SCL) wear may result in changes to corneal curvature and structure. Results: No significant differences in keratometry or Sagittal radius of curvature between SCL and NCL groups prior to or following SCL cessation. The time required for resolution of these changes can vary according to contact lens (CL) material, modality and length of previous CL wear [24].The FDA guidelines recommend that SCLs are left out for at least two weeks prior to initial consultation, no specific guidelines are given in relation to SCL type, modality or previous years of SCL wear [1].To the author’s knowledge, no published study has examined retrospective findings from a SCL group of various lens materials and years of SCL wear and evaluated corneal stability following two weeks lens cessation, in relation to a NCL group. Stiff modulus SiH lenses worn for longer wearing times can result in flattening of keratometry values [6, 14,15,16,17,18]
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