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Distribution of overnight corneal swelling across subjects with 4 different silicone hydrogel lenses
Amir M Moezzi1, Desmond Fonn, Jalaiah Varikooty
1Centre for Contact Lens Research, School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ammoezzi@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca
Purpose:
To determine distribution of central corneal swelling (CCS) across subjects after 8 hr of sleep in eyes wearing silicone hydrogel lenses with various oxygen transmissibility (Dk/t) values and in eyes without lenses.
Methods:
Twenty-nine neophytes wore lotrafilcon A (Dk, 140), balafilcon A (Dk, 91), galyfilcon A (Dk, 60), and senofilcon A (Dk, 103) lenses in powers -3.00, -10.00, and +6.00 diopters on separate nights, in random order, and on 1 eye only. The contralateral eye (no lens) served as the control. Central corneal thickness was measured using a digital optical pachometer before lens insertion and immediately after lens removal on waking.
Results:
The average difference between the mean (7%) and the median (6.8%) CCS of all lenses was only 0.2%, suggesting a normal distribution. There was no correlation between the mean and the range of the CCS (r=0.058, P=0.766). Normal CCS distributions were also found with each lens-wearing eye and the control eye (P>0.20 for all). There was a significant correlation between lens-wearing eye and control eye (r=0.895, P<0.001) and between lotrafilcon A and each of the other 3 lenses for mean CCS across the study participants (P<0.001 for all).
Conclusions:
Distribution of corneal swelling in both lens-wearing eye and control eye followed a normal curve. An individual's corneal swelling response seems to be independent of lens type.