[Effect of ultraviolet-filtering contact lens on rabbit eyes after exposure to ultraviolet light]

We evaluated the protective effect of a newly designed soft contact lens (SCL) on rabbit eyes. This SCL absorbs the ultraviolet B light of wavelengths between 280 nm and 320 nm. Three weeks after resecting the nictitating membrane, the rabbit corneas were covered either by the new SCL or a conventional SCL. The eyes were exposed to ultraviolet light from two 15 W lamps placed 20 cm anteriorly for 3 hours. Another three hours after the exposure, the cornea was examined first with a slitlamp biomicroscope after staining with fluorescein and then by histopathological means after enucleation. Six eyes wearing the new SCL showed moderate superficial punctate keratopathy. Six eyes wearing conventional SCL showed severe superficial keratopathy or corneal erosion. These findings were in good agreement with the histopathological findings. The new ultraviolet-filtering SCL was thus effective in protecting the rabbit cornea under our experimental conditions.