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Posters
October 2002
THE EVALUATION OF SILICONE HYDROGEL AND TRADITIONAL HYDROGEL
MATERIALS FOR 7 DAY CONTINUOUS WEAR AMONG NEW CONTACT LENS WEARERS.
Comstock OD, MS, FAAO, William Reindel OD, MS, Duane Dey MS,
Bausch & Lomb, Inc.
Purpose:
Traditionally, subjects in contact
lens performance studies are primarily adapted contact lens
wears. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance
of two extended wear contact lens materials among a population
of new contact lens wearers.
Method:
A total of 498 eyes (249
patients) were enrolled into this controlled, randomized,
6 month study by 9 investigators. A silicone hydrogel material
(balafilcon A) was fit on one eye and a traditional hydrogel
material (etafilcon A) was fit on the other eye. Following
one week of daily wear adaption, the patients wore the lenses
for 7-day continuous wear. Visits were scheduled at 24 hrs,
1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months.
Results:
An assessment of the slit
lamp events that occurred over all visits indicated no significant
difference for Epithelial Edema, Corneal Staining, Tarsal
Abnormalities or Infiltrates. There was a significant difference
in favor of the silicone hydrogel lens for Epithelial Microcysts,
Limbal Injection, Bulbar Injection and Neovascularization.
Lens movement was significantly better with the silicone hydrogel
lens. Lens deposit and surface wettability assessments that
occurred over all visits demonstrated no significant difference.
Conclusions:
The results indicate
that practitioners should observe fewer clinical signs among
new patients fitted with balafilcon A lenses for extended
wear. This difference appears to be related to the oxygen
permeability of the material and the fitting characteristics
of the lens.
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