Corneal Epithelial Thickness Map in Long-Term Soft Contact Lenses Wearers

Abstract

There is a decrease in epithelial thickness in subjects who wear SCL long term. Clinicians should take note of the nonuniformity of the paracentral and midperipheral corneal epithelium thicknesses. This method may be useful for detecting early changes in corneal epithelial thickness caused by long-term SCL wear.

Non‐invasive assessment of corneal and conjunctival deterioration in soft contact lens users using anterior segment optical coherence tomography

“…In this study, we observed significantly thinner corneal epithelium in the SCL group compared to the emmetropic group, which is in accordance with previous studies . Extensive data have been collected on corneal biomechanics, refractive error and axial length in myopic subjects and axial elongation of the eye is correlated with mechanical stretching, leading to thinning of the sclera .…”

“…The current study was designed to investigate differences in overall and epithelial thickness of the cornea and conjunctiva in subjects, who had worn soft contact lenses for a minimum of one year compared with subjects, who used spectacles for refractive error correction and control subjects, who had no refractive error. In the current study, members of the emmetropic group had a mean central corneal epithelial thickness of 53.18 ± 5.05 µm, which is in accordance with studies that used ocular coherence tomography, a very high‐frequency digital ultrasonic system and a confocal Rostock laser scanning microscope …”

“…Some found a positive correlation with myopia, some found a negative correlation with myopia, while the others found no correlation . Further, in light of controversial results concerning the relationship between myopia and corneal thickness measurements, several studies evaluating the thickness of corneal layers in contact lens wearers did not include both refraction‐matched subjects and subjects with emmetropia as control groups. They compared the corneal layer thicknesses of SCL group only with those of myopic subjects without a history of soft contact lens wear, which might cause misleading conclusions to be drawn.…”

“…Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS‐OCT) is becoming more widely used in clinical studies, for example to investigate the thickness changes of the total cornea and epithelium after overnight corneal refractive therapy rigid contact lens wear and to evaluate the influence of soft contact lens design on epithelial indentation . Using this technology, corneal epithelial involvement in soft contact lens (SCL) wearers has been reported previously; however, there have been few studies into changes in the conjunctival layer of SCL wearers.…”

Age-related differences in corneal epithelial thickness measurements with anterior segment optical coherence tomography

“…Corneal epithelial thickness (CET) has recently drawn increasing attention because it not only plays an active role in determining total corneal power but also manifests structural or functional changes under various conditions, such as keratoconus, contact lens use, dry eye, and limbal stem cell deficiency [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. The recent availability of corneal epithelial imaging by optical coherence tomography (OCT) presents a practical tool for clinical in vivo epithelial mapping, with good repeatability in normal and post-LASIK eyes [2,5,10].…”