Effect of silicone elastomer contact lens wear on endothelial cell morphology in aphakic eyes

We prospectively evaluated the effect of extended silicone elastomer contact lens wear on the endothelial mosaic of aphakic subjects. Endothelial cell photography and central corneal thickness measurements were performed on 23 eyes of 15 aphakic subjects (mean age 60 +/- 10 years). These measurements were made before lens wear (n = 23) and were repeated after 1 year (n = 19) and again after 5 years (n = 10) of lens wear. No statistically significant change in mean endothelial cell size or coefficient of variation of cell size was found. Central corneal thickness was significantly decreased at 1 year and hexagonality was significantly increased at 5 years. Thus, the changes in endothelial morphology usually associated with contact lens wear did not occur with silicone lenses, which are highly permeable to oxygen.