Soft contact lenses for irregular astigmatism after laser in situ keratomileusis

To investigate soft contact lenses for managing irregular astigmatism after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). The prevailing notion has been that soft contacts conform to corneal surface irregularities and have a limited role for managing LASIK-induced irregular astigmatism.

A 41-year-old man with bilateral central steep islands following LASIK had best spectacle-corrected visual acuity of 20/40(+1) in the right eye and 20/70+2 in the left eye, despite 20/20 acuity in each eye with rigid contact lenses. Three soft lenses made of etafilcon A (58% H2O) in different center thicknesses were placed sequentially on each eye. All lenses were -2.00 D sphere, in the flatter of the two available base curves. With each lens, corneal topography, spherical over-refraction, and the resulting visual acuity were recorded.

In all instances, corneal topography showed reduced surface irregularity although at least some irregularity still transmitted through the lenses. Each spherical over-refraction gave better visual acuity than the corresponding best spectacle-corrected visual acuity. The right eye achieved 20/20 with the thickest lens and spherical over-refraction. The left eye achieved 20/25 with the lens of intermediate thickness and spherical overrefraction. The patient reported functional vision and good comfort with these lenses.

Disposable soft contact lenses can modestly mask irregular astigmatism caused by excimer laser ablation.