Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem Scleral Lens Therapy for Exposure Keratopathy

To investigate the utility of Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem (PROSE) scleral lenses in patients with exposure keratopathy, with outcomes based on changes in visual acuity, visual function, and corneal staining.

A retrospective interventional case series of patients evaluated and treated from September 2009 through June 2014 at a single multi-specialty institutional practice. Eighteen of 29 patients with exposure keratoconjunctivitis, lagophthalmos, ectropion, or lid retraction, referred to USC Eye Institute after failing conventional therapies completed PROSE scleral lens fitting and were included in the study. Visual function was assessed before and after PROSE fitting with the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) survey. Visual acuity (VA) and corneal staining changes were also evaluated before and after treatment.

Visual acuity improved from 0.60±0.68 logMAR pre-PROSE to 0.25±0.34 logMAR (Z=-3.81, P=0.00014) post-PROSE, which corresponds to an improvement of about 20/80 to 20/35 on Snellen VA. Ocular Surface Disease Index scores improved from 56.54±29.75 pre-PROSE to 24.98±21.23 post-PROSE (Z=-2.98, P=0.0029), and corneal staining values decreased from 2.17±0.84 pre-PROSE to 0.64±0.70 post-PROSE (Z=-3.27, P=0.011).

The results suggest that PROSE scleral lens therapy is effective in patients with exposure keratopathy who had failed conventional therapies and can serve as an alternative to lid surgery.