title: Pinguecula and contact lenses.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. mimurat-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mimura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Obata
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamagami
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Funatsu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noma
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amano
mesh_terms: 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