title: Corneal epithelial permeability and daily contact lens wear as determined by fluorophotometry.
abstract: The condition of the corneal epithelium of 57 non-, 18 soft-, 29 gas-permeable- and 26 hard contact lens-wearing eyes was investigated by fluorophotometric determination of the corneal epithelial permeability. The mean permeability values for non-, soft-, gas-permeable- and hard contact lens-wearing eyes were 0.040 nm/s +/- 0.017 SD, 0.024 nm/s +/- 0.009 SD, 0.028 nm/s +/- 0.017 SD and 0.044 nm/s +/- 0.020 SD, respectively. The mean permeability values for soft and gas-permeable contact lens-wearing eyes were significantly lower than that for non contact lens-wearing eyes (-40%, p less than 0.001 and -30%, p less than 0.005); no significant difference was found between the mean values for hard and non contact lens-wearing eyes (p = 0.38).
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Leiden University Hospital, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Boets
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: van Best
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Boot
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Oosterhuis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003261:Contact Lenses; D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005470:Fluorometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010539:Permeability; D010783:Photometry; D013997:Time Factors