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Conjunctivochalasis, pinguecula may increase risk of lens-induced subconjunctival hemorrhage
Am J Ophthalmol. 2010;150(5):656-665.
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Conjunctivochalasis and pinguecula appear to be predictors of contact lens-induced subconjunctival hemorrhage, a study found.
The cross-sectional, case-controlled study enrolled 45 contact lens wearers with subconjunctival hemorrhage, 200 age-matched healthy controls who did not wear contact lenses and 200 age-matched contact lens wearers.
Overall, 29 patients (64.4%) had small hemorrhages, according to the study.
Although subconjunctival hemorrhage was significantly more common in the temporal area (55.6%) compared with the nasal area (22.2%; P < .00118), the investigators found no statistically significant differences between the superior and inferior areas.
The extent of conjunctivochalasis was statistically significantly greater in both the unaffected and affected eyes of patients in the contact lens hemorrhage group than in the non-contact lens wearing group and contact lens group without hemorrhage. Conjunctivochalasis grades for the nasal, middle and temporal conjunctiva regions were higher in the contact lens wearers with hemorrhages than in the other two groups (P < .00001).
"We found that [contact lens] wearers with subconjunctival hemorrhage had more severe conjunctivochalasis and pinguecula than control subjects ... suggesting that the occurrence of subconjunctival hemorrhage can be influenced by various diseases of the ocular surface," the study authors said.