[Contact lens fitting in 133 eyes with irregular astigmatism]

To study the adaptation of contact lens in a sample of 133 eyes with irregular astigmatism.

A retrospective study was made in 133 eyes with irregular astigmatism. The selection criterion was to obtain a sample population with irregular astigmatism that was unlikely to be corrected with spectacles or conventional contact lens. A complete ophthalmologic exploration which included a topography with the Eye-Sys 2000 corneal topographer was made was made. The variables analyzed in the study were: refraction, visual acuity before and after the correction, cause of the astigmatism and contact lens used.

An equal number of women and men were enrolled in the study. The right eye was studied in 52% of cases, and the left eye in 46%. Both eyes were affected in 67% of the subjects. The reason for the astigmatism was keratoconus in 110 eyes (78.2%), and there were 4 corneal injuries, 9 ocular infections, and 6 idiopathic astigmatisms. Among the contact lens used in the study: in 103 eyes a hybrid lens (Softperm) was adapted, in 20 eyes a piggy-back system, in 5 eyes a thick hydrophilic lens (Queratosoft), in 4 eyes a hydrophilic contact lens and in 3 cases a rigid gas permeable contact lens. The average visual acuity before the adaptation was 0.28 (SD 0.24) (range 0.1-0.8). After the use of the lens the average visual acuity was 0.81 (SD 0.23) (range 0.1-1). Statistically significant differences between the visual acuity before and after treatment were found, with an improvement of 0.53 (SD 0.28) obtained.

Only with experience using a large variety of non-conventional contact lens can a specialist contact lens ophthalmologist achieve a good result.