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Soft contact lens performs well in keratoconus patients
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PARIS — A silicone hydrogel soft contact lens specially designed for irregular corneas shows excellent outcomes in keratoconus patients, according to a specialist.
“In the past, soft thick lenses were used to mask keratoconus, but because of poor oxygen transmission, they used to cause limbal and in some cases corneal neovascularization,” Florence Malet, MD, said at the meeting of the French Society of Ophthalmology.
Florence Malet
The KeraSoft IC lens (Bausch + Lomb) was launched in the United States and is now becoming available in Europe. It provides a high correction range from –30 D to +30 D, with the possibility of correcting astigmatism up to 15 D.
Malet fitted this lens in more than 40 eyes; the majority had keratoconus and were intolerant to either rigid gas permeable lenses or piggyback lenses. Some of the patients had undergone previous graft surgery or intracorneal ring implantation. Another group of patients had post-LASIK ectasia.
“The lens is designed to mask the irregularity of the cornea, and the optics are aspheric. It provides very visual results, definitely superior to current soft toric lenses,” she said.
The most impressive results were in patients with intracorneal rings who needed further refractive correction and were able to recover up to 20/20 in some cases. Patients with post-LASIK ectasia also did well.
“The lens must be replaced every 3 months. It provides a high level of oxygen and good comfort. We evaluated comfort at 1 month, and satisfaction was rated on average 8 out of 10 and 7 at the end of the day, which is quite good with this kind of patient,” Malet said.
Disclosure: Malet has no relevant financial disclosures.