Glare and contrast sensitivity in contact lens corrected aphakia, epikeratophakia and pseudophakia.

The effects of glare on contrast sensitivity and high contrast Snellen acuity were investigated in a group of unilaterally aphakic patients with normal fellow eyes. In spite of relatively good visual acuity and apparently satisfactory surgical results, there was a marked reduction in contrast sensitivity in epikeratophakia and contact lens corrected aphakic eyes, relative to fellow normal eyes, especially in the presence of glare (P less than 0.05). Although the results from the pseudophakic patients were more variable, there is some evidence to suggest that epikeratophakia provides inferior visual function to contact lens correction or intraocular lens implantation. The results also suggest that the measurement of visual acuity in the presence of glare fails to identify many patients with a functional visual impairment secondary to glare.