CONTACT LENSES TODAY
December 11, 2005
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches more
than 12,000 readers in 74 countries.
New Lens Material May Alleviate Dryness
A recent study sponsored by Vistakon shows contact lenses made of senofilcon A material may help reduce the number of patients who drop-out
of lens wear. Researchers evaluated clinical data from 1,092 current contact lens wearers to calculate the prevalence of six common signs and symptoms of lens wear.
Nearly half of participants showed at least one of the six signs. Discomfort at the end of the day was the most frequently reported problem (31%), followed by frequent or
constant dryness (28%) and discomfort (17%).
Of the original group, 257 were fit with senofilcon A contact lenses and reevaluated in two weeks. Among those who
previously reported problems, 88% reported a noticeable improvement in overall comfort, 76% in comfortable hours of wear and 75% in frequency of dryness.
Pech Optical to Distribute ChromaGen
ChromaGen USA, part of the Maxine Morgan group of companies, has announced a sales and marketing alliance with Pech Optical Corp., the
nation’s second largest distributor of optical products. Pech Optical has additionally been named the exclusive laboratory for all ChromaGen USA prescriptions. The
company will educate, market and sell the ChromaGen system, a unique line of lenses developed to help patients with color blindness or academic skills disorder, a group
of conditions including dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. The system consists of eight colored haploscopic filters proven to help patients manage these
disorders.
Real-world feedback from eye care professionals now supports pre-launch claims of ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ Brand Contact Lenses for
ASTIGMATISM.
When compared to Soflens66® Toric, ACUVUE® ADVANCE™ for ASTIGMATISM clearly provides more predictable orientation and
crisper, more stable vision; the advantage comes from the Accelerated Stabilization Design. Less lid interaction leads to superior performance versus the traditional
prism-ballast design such as found in Soflens66® Toric. Also, because of HYDRACLEAR™ Technology, the lens delivers significantly better comfort both upon
insertion and at the end of the day.
--ADVERTISING
Abstract:
Incidence of Keratitis with Extended Wear
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology in Baltimore recruited 6245 contact lens wearers
on a continuous wear schedule for up to 30 nights of wear. Their aim was to estimate the incidence of presumed microbial keratitis, with and without loss of visual acuity,
with silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Of the original 6245, 4999 subjects completed the 12 months of follow-up. Nearly 80% routinely wore their lenses continuously for 3
or more weeks. Researchers determined the overall rate of microbial keratitis was 18 out of 10,000. Two cases of presumed microbial keratitis were accompanied by loss of
visual acuity, the annual rate of which was calculated to be 3.6 per 10,000 cases. An additional eight cases were seen, without loss of visual acuity, at an annual rate
of 14.4 per 10,000. The rate of infection was lower for those reporting typical wear of three or more weeks than for those who wore the lens for less than a three-week
continuous period. The authors of the study concluded the incidence of loss of visual acuity due to microbial keratitis among silicone hydrogel lens wearers was low. The
overall rate was similar to that previously reported for conventional extended wear soft lenses worn for fewer consecutive nights.
Schein OD, McNally JJ,
Katz J, Chalmers RL, et al. The incidence of microbial keratitis among wearers of a 30-day silicone hydrogel extended-wear contact
lens. Ophthalmology. 2005 Dec;112(12):2172-9.
Editor's Commentary:
Good news from San Diego and the American Academy of Optometry Meeting
From the looks of attendance at this year's meeting and at our Modern Contact Lens Prescribing lecture today, interest is high in contact
lenses. There is much descussion about new solutions and new lenses that will help many of our patients. Next week we will have a number of newsworthy items from the
meeting.
See our abstract below, which was the focus of an execllent session at the Section on Cornea and Contact Lens Awards session where the Max Schapero Award went to Dwight
Cavanagh MD and the Founders Award was given to Kyoichi Tanaka, Founder of Menicon.
Fitting Tip:
Help Contact Lens Patients Pick Frames
Several of my moderate-to-high farsighted patients have great difficulty seeing well enough to select new frames. Most end up trying
frames on over their current spectacles. I have found that allowing them to wear a trial pair of contacts (set to their near correction) allows them to try on frames
and see them clearly. This is of course done in a supervised setting and we remove the lenses before the patient leaves. Some of these patients schedule a contact lens
fitting because they enjoyed being able to see without spectacles. Patients appreciate us going the extra mile to help in their frame selection.
Joshua Coleman,
O.D.
Paris, Tenn.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, read part two of our BCLA synopsis and learn
more about toric silicone hydrogels, including guidelines for comparing the performance of different toric silicone hydrogels, a comparison of corneal swelling with toric
and spherical silicone hydrogels, and one patient‚s experiences switching to these lenses.
Report adverse contact lens reactions here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call
(800) FDA-1088.
Access a reporting form for complications you've seen that were a result of contact lenses dispensed without a valid prescription
at the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry's (ARBO's) Web
site: http://www.arbo.org/arbo.asp?dt=R&doc=Complications. Complete and send the form online or print it
out and fax it to (866) 886-6164.
Send your favorite tips to tips@cltoday.com -- if your tip is selected
as 'Best of the Month,' you'll receive a free golf shirt (see http://www.CLToday.com for details). Please include your full name,
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