Silikon Hidrojel Kontakt Lens Kullanımının Kornea Morfolojisi Üzerindeki Uzun Dönem Etkileri

Pur po se: To evaluate the effects of silicone hydrogel contact lenses (SHCL) on central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal endothelial cell\udmorphology, and tear functions.\udMa te ri al and Met hod: Fifty-five eyes of 28 SHCL wearers (Group 1) and 52 eyes of 26 healthy subjects (Group 2) were included in this\udstudy’. According to their contact lens wearing time, the contact lens wearing subjects were divided into 2 groups: Group 1a - wearing time\udless than 1 year and Group 1b - wearing time more than 1 year. CCT, epithelial thickness, corneal endothelial cell morphology, ocular surface\uddisease index score (OSDI), and tear break-up time (TBUT) were evaluated.\udRe sults: In Group 1 and Group 2, the mean CCT was 561.85±39.98 µm and 537.25±27.12 µm, respectively (p: 0.001).The epithelial\udthickness was 50.38±5.41 µm and 55.64±5.32 µm, respectively (p: 0.001). In Group 1a and Group1 b, the mean CCT was 573.39±33.86\udµm and 546.96±42.98 µm (p: 0.014) and the epithelial thickness was 49.51±4.78 µm and 51.50±6.04 µm (p>0.05), respectively. In\udGroup 1, the percentage of endothelial cells larger than 700µ was low, while the percentage of endothelial cells between 200 and 400µ was\udhigh (p<0,05).\udDis cus si on: With SHCL wear, the corneal morphology is more affected in the short-term period. During long-term contact lens wear,\udthe cornea enters an adaptation period and shows near-normal morphology. Tear functions are not affected by short- or long-term SHCL\udwear. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2012; 42: 91-6