September, 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.

We often feel patients would benefit by changing from hydrogel to silicone hydrogel lenses. However, convincing patients to switch can sometimes be challenging. Practicing in Midland, Mich., the home of Dow Corning, has provided us with extensive experience fitting some of the first contact lenses to incorporate silicone. We have found the following chart helpful when deciding whether to refit patients in such cases:

To Refit Or Not To Refit? Patient Wear Schedule Compliance History of complications i.e. infection *Depositing history? Comfort, (redness + dryness) Cost Limitations Yes FW, EW Poor Significant Not a factor Poor Little Maybe DW Variable Some Some OK Some No Part time Good none Significant Good Significant

*We routinely recommend hydrogen peroxide based solutions with silicone hydrogel lenses, finding they help promote a clean lens surface.
John E. Kaminski, O.D., F.A.A.O. & Scott M. Buckingham, O.D., Midland, Mich.

---

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.
http://www.ecp.acuvue.com
--ADVERTISING

---

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, degree or title and city/state/country.

---

Visit Contact Lens Spectrum ( http://www.clspectrum.com ) for interactive clinical posters and issue archives. Visit Contact Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips.

---

CLToday Services: Subscribe; Change or Remove your e-mail address; submit news to news@cltoday.com; or, fax 1-215-643-3902.

---