Specular microscopy studies on the corneal endothelium after cessation of contact lens wear.

We performed specular microscopy on the corneal endothelium of 22 long-term hard contact lens wearers (15-32 years duration) and 22 age- and sex-matched controls. We found polymegethism in users as shown by a significant difference in the coefficient of variation in cell area (p less than 0.01) and pleomorphism as shown by a significant decrease in the percent of 6-sided cells (hexagonality, p less than 0.01). There was no significant difference in cell density and mean cell area between the 2 groups. Contact lens wear was discontinued in five eyes of three patients after they were entered into the study and switched to eye-glasses. Specular micrographs were taken up to 60 months after discontinuation of use of the lenses. Comparison of the above parameters before and after discontinuation of the lenses did not show a significant change. However, there was a trend toward improvement in the coefficient of variation in the eyes that were followed the longest. This finding suggests that the morphological changes induced by long-term use of contact lenses may be slowly reversible after prolonged discontinuation of contact lens wear.