Rigid gas-permeable lenses for extended wear--a 1-year clinical evaluation.

A 1-year evaluation of the feasibility of the use of gas-permeable rigid lenses for extended wear was carried out, using two different materials. Forty subjects were entered into the study. Fifteen were fitted with the Polycon II lens and another 15 with the Boston IV lens. These two groups wore the lenses on a weekly basis for the duration of the study. Two other groups, the controls, were fitted with the same types of lenses as the experimental groups, but wore the lenses on a daily basis. All lenses were made to the Syntex specifications for the Polycon lens and the groups were comparable with regard to age, sex, refractive error, corneal astigmatism, and any pre-existing ocular pathology. All subjects carried out the same care regimen for their lenses and were examined after 24 h, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. Examinations performed at the follow-up visits were to determine any clinically observable effects of lens wear in each patient in all groups. The results of the study suggest that the extended wear of gas-permeable rigid materials is a viable option. However, the results also indicate that extended wear is not without problems, and these need to be studied more fully before the use of gas-permeable rigid lenses for extended wear can be recommended.