Microbial changes in the ocular environment with contact lens wear.
A group of 30 subjects, each fit with a single disposable or non-disposable soft contact lens, was further randomized to a daily wear or extended wear schedule to determine the effect of lens wear on the normal conjunctival flora. Cultures of the subjects' inferior cul-de-sacs were taken at baseline before any lens wear and after one week of lens wear. Additionally, each subjects' lens was removed in a sterile manner and cultured at the end of the one week wear period. In all subjects, the fellow eye was used as a control. There were no statistically significant differences with respect to bacterial culture results between experimental and control eyes. Also, there were no significant differences between the pre- and post-lens wear groups. And no significant differences were found when the larger groups were broken down into different wear schedules and lens types and compared. The results of this study suggest that the ocular flora is not markedly changed after one week of contact lens wear. Also raised is the question of whether an altered ocular flora is an etiologic factor in the development of infectious keratitis in contact lens wearers.
Elander
T R
TR
Department of Ophthalmology, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco 94115.
Goldberg
M A
MA
Salinger
C L
CL
Tan
J R
JR
Levy
B
B
Abbott
R L
RL
D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000382:microbiology*; D003261:Contact Lenses; D003262:Contact Lenses, Extended-Wear; D004209:Disposable Equipment; D006801:Humans; D011897:Random Allocation