Pediatric aphakic contact lens wear: rates of successful wear

Two hundred thirty-eight consecutive patients with pediatric cataracts were fitted with a variety of aphakic contact lenses after cataract extraction. Thirty-nine patients did not return for follow up. Of the remaining 199 patients, 40 discontinued contact lens wear. None of the 78 patients with unilateral or bilateral acquired cataracts discontinued contact lens wear due to problems wearing their lenses, although nine discontinued contact lens wear due to poor vision or difficulty maintaining amblyopia treatment. Twenty-two of 84 patients with unilateral congenital cataracts discontinued lens wear, six directly due to difficulties wearing lenses. Sixteen had poor vision in their aphakic eye and inability to maintain patching for amblyopia. Eight of 37 patients with bilateral congenital cataracts discontinued lens wear because of problems wearing their lenses, and one other discontinued lens wear because of poor vision. In summary, 26 of 40 patients (out of a total of 199) that discontinued aphakic contact lens wear did so because of poor vision, while only 14 did so because of difficulties wearing the contact lenses. Eleven of these 14 patients were able to wear aphakic spectacles in lieu of contact lenses. This study shows that most pediatric patients with cataracts fail at treatment because of problems related to treatment of amblyopia, and not problems related to the fitting and wearing of contact lenses.