Abstract
Ninety four patients with 'sterile' keratitis presenting consecutively over a nine month period to the Accident and Emergency Department of Moorfields Eye Hospital were studied. This condition was found to account for 0.49% of all new casualties. A significant association was found in these patients, compared with controls, with contact lens hygiene, particularly for daily wear soft contact lenses, and contact lens case contamination by bacteria suggesting that these may be important factors in the aetiology of 'sterile' keratitis. Compared to gas permeable hard contact lenses the relative risk of developing 'sterile' keratitis in our patients was found to be 2.3 times higher with extended wear soft contact lenses, 1.56 times higher with daily wear soft contact lenses and 0.509 with polymethylmethacrylate lenses (test of trend p-value <0.05). The results indicate that 'sterile' corneal infiltrates are related to contact lens hygiene and in part to contact lens case contamination by bacteria and also to the type of lens worn.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Barry PJ and Ruben M : Contact lens injuries. An analysis of 217 consecutive cases presenting to Moorfields casualty department. Contact Lens J 1980, 9: 959–60.
Franks WA, Adams GGW, Dart JKG, Minassian D : Relative risks of different types of contact lenses. Br Med J 1988, 297: 524–5.
Stein RM, Clinch TE, Cohen EJ, Genvert GI, Arentsen JJ, Liabson PR : Infected vs sterile corneal infiltrates in contact lens wearers. Am J Opthalmol 1988, 105: 632–6.
Mantel N : Chi-square tests with one degree of freedom: extensions of the Mantel-Haenszel procedure. J Am Stat Ass 1963, 58: 690–700.
Mienttinen OS : Simple interval-estimation of risk ratio. Am J Epidemiol 1974, 100: 515–6.
Alfonso E, Mandlbaum S, Fox MJ, Forster RK : Ulcerative keratitis associated with contact lens wear. Am J Ophthalmol 1986, 101: 429–33.
Ormerod LD and Smith RE : Contact lens associated microbial keratitis. Arch Ophthalmol 1986, 104: 79–83.
Galentine PG, Cohen EJ, Laibson PR, Adams CP, Michaud R, Arentsen JJ : Corneal ulcers associated with contact lens wear. Arch Ophthalmol 1984, 102: 891–4.
Dart JKG : Predisposing factors in microbial keratitis: the significance of contact lens wear. Br J Ophthalmol 1988, 72: 926–30.
Bernstein HN and Kemp MA : An unusual keratoconjunctivitis occurring after longtime wearing of the AO Softcon (formerly Griffin or Bionite) hydrophilic contact lens. Ann Ophthalmol 1975, 7: 97–106.
Binder PS, Rasmussen DM, Gordon M : Keratoconjunctivitis and soft contact lens solutions. Arch Ophthalmol 1981, 99: 87–90.
Mondino BJ and Groden LR : Conjunctival hyperaemia and corneal infiltrates with chemically disinfected contact lens solutions. Arch Opthalmol 1980, 98: 1767–70.
Wilson LA, McNatt J, Reitschel R : Delayed hypersensitivity to thiomersal in soft contact lens wearers. Opthalmology 1981, 88: 804–9.
Phillips AJ, Badenoch PR, Grutzmacher R, Roussel TJ : Microbial contamination of extended-wear contact lenses: An investigation of endotoxin as a cause of the acute ocular inflammation reaction. International Eyecare 1986, 9: 469–75.
Smolin G, Okumoto M, Nozik RA : The microbial flora in extended-wear soft contact-lens wearers. Am J Ophthalmol 1979, 88: 543–7.
Schein O, Hibberd P, Kenyon KR : Contact lens complications: incidental or epidemic? Am J Opthalmol 1986, 102: 116–7.
Pitts RE, Krachmer JH : Evaluation of soft contact lens contamination in the home environment. Arch Ophthalmol 1979, 97: 470–2.
Donzis PB, Mondino BJ, Weissman BW, Bruckner DA : Microbial contamination of contact lens care systems. Am J Ophthalmol 1987, 104: 325–33.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bates, A., Morris, R., Stapleton, F. et al. ‘Sterile’ corneal infiltrates in contact lens wearers. Eye 3, 803–810 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1989.124
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1989.124
This article is cited by
-
Kontaktlinsenkomplikationen
Der Ophthalmologe (2018)