Pinguecula and contact lenses.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between age and the incidence and severity (determined by a grading system) of pinguecula in contact lens (CL) wearers, and to compare the grade of pinguecula between CL wearers and non-wearers.


METHODS
A total of 600 CL wearers (94 wore hard CLs (HCLs) and 506 wore soft CLs (SCLs)) aged 11-60 years and 579 non-wearers aged 10-60 years were enrolled. The age, gender, medical history, ocular history, and grade of pinguecula at two locations (nasal and temporal) were determined in all subjects.


RESULTS
There was an age-related increase in the grade of pinguecula among both CL wearers and non-wearers. The grade of pinguecula at the temporal conjunctiva was higher in CL wearers than in non-wearers (P=0.01907), whereas it was higher in HCL wearers than SCL wearers at both the nasal and temporal conjunctiva (P<0.00001 and P<0.00001).


CONCLUSIONS
This was the first assessment of the severity of pinguecula in a large consecutive series of CL wearers. Our results suggest that the use of CLs is an important risk factor for pinguecula.
Mimura
T
T
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. mimurat-tky@umin.ac.jp
Usui
T
T
Mori
M
M
Yamamoto
H
H
Obata
H
H
Yamagami
S
S
Funatsu
H
H
Noma
H
H
Honda
N
N
Amano
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003229:Conjunctival Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003261:Contact Lenses / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult