Risk of Microbial Keratitis in Contact Lens Wearers

October’s Ophthalmology

Findings from a two-year case-control study by Dart et al. suggest that interactions between contact lenses and the ocular surface may be more important in the development of corneal infection than oxygen levels and case contamination.The study involved 367 contact lens wearers with presumed microbial keratitis, 1,069 contact lens wearers with disorders unrelated to contact lenses and 639 contact lens wearers randomly selected from the local area.Compared with planned-replacement soft lenses, daily-wear disposable contact lenses had a significantly increased relative risk of microbial keratitis, rigid lenses had a reduced risk, and there was no difference for silicone-hydrogel lenses. While the risk of microbial keratitis was higher overall in daily-wear disposable lens wearers, the risk of vision loss was less for planned-replacement soft contact lens users.conclusion
The authors conclude that different brands of contact lenses may be associated with significantly different microbial keratitis risks. They hope that the findings from this study can help lead to the development of safer soft contact lenses