title: Non-invasive assessment of corneal and conjunctival deterioration in soft contact lens users using anterior segment optical coherence tomography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim was to evaluate the corneal and bulbar conjunctival thicknesses of soft contact lens (SCL) wearers using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  The epithelial and overall thicknesses of both the central cornea and the infero-temporal bulbar conjunctiva of SCL wearers (30 subjects) were obtained by Cirrus HD-OCT and compared with those of refraction-matched controls (30 subjects) and patients with emmetropia (30 subjects).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean corneal epithelial thicknesses in SCL wearing, spectacle-wearing and emmetropic groups were 48.97 ± 5.45, 52.18 ± 4.84 and 53.18 ± 5.05 µm, respectively. The corneal epithelium of members of the SCL group was significantly thinner than in both the spectacles and emmetropic groups (p = 0.044 and 0.006, respectively), whereas the central corneal thickness did not differ between groups (p = 0.210). The mean conjunctival epithelial thicknesses in SCL, spectacles and emmetropic groups were 41.50 ± 7.75, 54.33 ± 8.39 and 49.10 ± 7.11 µm, respectively. Conjunctival epithelium in the SCL group was significantly thinner than in both spectacle-wearing and emmetropic groups (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). The conjunctiva was significantly thinner in the SCL group compared to the spectacles group (p = 0.001) but not the emmetropic group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Contact lens wear is related to thinning of both corneal and conjunctival layers. AS-OCT is a non-invasive and clinically applicable technique for assessing the involvement of the cornea and conjunctiva in contact lens wearers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine, Canakkale, Turkey. isersan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ersan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine, Canakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arikan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine, Canakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Selcuk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine, Canakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Baran
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gencer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine, Canakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Asiye
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koklu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine, Canakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan Ali
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Tufan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*
keywords: anterior segment optical coherence tomography; conjunctiva; cornea; epithelial thickness; soft contact lens