Contact lenses are required for the visual improvement in patients with keratoconus. Various contact lens options, such as rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses, soft and soft toric lenses, piggy back contact lenses (PBCL), hybrid lenses and scleral lenses are availble. This article discusses about selection of a lens depending on the type of keratoconus and the fitting philosophies of various contact lenses including the starting trial lens. A Medline search was carried out for articles in the English language with the keywords keratoconus and various contact lenses such as Rose k lens, RGP lens, hybrid lens, scleral lens and PBCL.

Scleral lenses are large diameter lenses which rest over the sclera, unlike the conventional contact lenses which rest on the cornea. These lenses are fitted to not touch the cornea and there is a space created between the cornea and the lens. These lenses are inserted in the eyes after filling with sterile isotonic fluid. Generally, scleral contact lenses are used for high irregular astigmatism as seen in various corneal ectatic diseases such as keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration, or/and as liquid bandage in ocular surface disorders. In this article, we review the new developments, that have taken place over the years, in the field of scleral contact lenses as regard to new designs, materials, manufacturing technologies, and fitting strategies particularly for keratoconus.

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Context:Boston ocular surface prosthesis (BOSP) is a scleral contact lens used in the management of patients who are rigid gas permeable (RGP) failures as with corneal ectasias such as keratoconus and in those patients who have ocular surface disease such as Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS).Aim:To report utilization of BOSP in a tertiary eye care center in India.Materials and Methods:We retrospectively reviewed charts of 32 patients who received BOSP from July 2008 to May 2009. Indications for fitting these lenses, improvement in visual acuity (VA) before and after lens fitting and relief of symptoms of pain and photophobia were noted. Paired t-test was used for statistical analysis using SPSS version 16.0 for Windows.Results:Thirty-two patients (43 eyes) received these lenses. These consisted of 23 eyes of 17 patients who failed RGP trials for irregular astigmatism and corneal ectasia such as keratoconus and post radial keratotomy and scar and 20 eyes of 15 patients with SJS. Mean age of RGP failures was 27.94 years. Pre- and post-BOSP wear mean LogMAR VA was 1.13 and 0.29, respectively, in RGP failures. The P value was statistically significant (P < 0.001). In patients with SJS, LogMAR VA was 0.84 ± 0.92 before and 0.56 ± 0.89 after lens wear. The P value was statistically significant (P < 0.001). VA improved by >2 lines in 7/20 eyes (35%) with SJS, with improvement in symptoms.Conclusion:BOSP improves VA in patients who have irregular astigmatism as in ectasias and RGP failures and improves vision and symptoms in patients with SJS.

The published studies on KC management options varied significantly with respect to the study population, age of participants, severity of KC, clinical outcome measurements, and follow-up period. High-quality longer follow-up RCTs are required to evaluate the long-term effects of KC interventions.

A multitude of factors, including environmental influences, lens contamination, ocular characteristics, and lens fit, contributes to the development of inflammatory events, information that is of clinical relevance to practitioners worldwide. Occupational environment was also a contributory factor, confirming that a duty of clinicians is to ascertain the nature of the work environment of lens wearers (and potential wearers) and to balance the needs of the wearer with the potential risks.

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