Clinical experience with continuous-wear hydrophilic contact lenses in aphakia

Twenty-two aphakic eyes in seven females and thirteen males were fitted with a new type of soft contact lens designed for continuous wear. Nine patients were operated on for unilateral traumatic cataract, and eleven patients were operated on for senile cataract. Sixteen patients terminated the study. In all cases the visual acuity with lens was almost equal to the acuity obtained with spectacles. The lenses were well tolerated without any special wearing schedule. No serious complications occurred. However, about one third of the patients developed conjunctivitis during the investigation period of eleven months. Four patients showed mild limbal vascular reaction, while only one patient had neovascularisation along the corneal scar caused by the original trauma. The new lens was found to be a good alternative to other contact lenses.