Continued contact lens wear in patients with giant papillary conjunctivitis

We performed a six-year retrospective evaluation of 47 contact lens patients with a documented history of giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC). The relationships between specific symptoms, contact lens history, treatment regimens, and clinical responses were studied. Specifically, we sought to determine the number of patients forced to discontinue contact lens wear due to GPC. Our study indicated two important preconditions to be associated with the onset of symptoms: the continued use of aging lenses and suboptimal lens care. For those patients treated and followed-up for at least 4 months, 79% obtained total resolution of their symptoms. Though the numbers are too small to make any significant conclusions about treatment methods it seems that lens discontinuance alone does not appear to be an adequate treatment for this condition and may serve better as adjunct to other therapy.