Clinical Ophthalmology (Apr 2021)
Revisiting the Robustness of Pentacam HR Indices Against Soft Contact Lens Wear
Abstract
Rania Serag Elkitkat,1– 3 Tamer Abdelfattah Badran,1,4 Weam Mohamed Ebeid1 1Ophthalmology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; 2Watany Eye Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt; 3Watany Research and Development Center, Cairo, Egypt; 4Specialized Eye Center, Cairo, EgyptCorrespondence: Rania Serag Elkitkat Email [email protected]: To evaluate various selected Pentacam HR indices in a cohort of soft contact lens (SCL) wearers before and after SCL discontinuation.Methods: Ninety right eyes of 90 SCL wearers (group 1) were compared to healthy controls (group 2). For group 1 eyes, Pentacam HR images were captured within one hour of SCL removal and after one month of discontinuation. The evaluated indices included curvature, elevation, and pachymetric parameters.Results: Elevation indices and two pachymetric indices (central corneal thickness and thinnest corneal thickness) did not show significant differences, either between the two groups or in group 1 after SCL discontinuation. Some pachymetric indices (average and maximum corneal pachymetry progression indices, and maximum Ambrosio’s relational thickness index) showed statistically significant (P-value < 0.001), yet clinically irrelevant differences. Contrarily, changes in curvature indices were both statistically significant (P-value < 0.001) and clinically relevant.Conclusion: From a clinical point of view, many elevation and pachymetric indices are robust against SCL wear, and can be relied upon for corneal ectasia screening of SCL wearers, even without abstaining from wearing SCLs.Keywords: soft contact lens warpage, Pentacam HR indices, soft contact lens wearers, silicone hydrogel contact lenses, contact lens discontinuation
