Hydrophilic Contact Lenses For Correcting Irregular and High Astigmatism

Abstract

Fifty eyes with either advanced keratoconus (17), recent corneal transplants (20), or high astigmatism (13) were fitted with soft hydrophilic contact lenses. In all eyes, spectacle correction did not allow for reasonable visual acuity, and hard contact lenses were either intolerable, dangerous to the underlying ocular pathological condition, or did not significantly improve the visual acuity. The hydrophilic contact lenses improved the visual acuity to 20/30 or better in 30 of the 50 eyes, and from 20/40 to 20/60 in 16 additional eyes. Spectacle lenses had to be worn over the soft lenses in 28 of the 50 eyes in this series in order to correct residual astigmatism. This was accepted by the patients who had no other way, short of surgery, to obtain a satisfactory visual acuity.