[Effect of welding arcs on the eyes of patients with contact lenses (literature study)].

Two accidents had been reported from abroad, within which contact lense users grew blind after staying quite near at electrical arcs. It is supposed that the contact lenses had been "welded" with the cornea by influence of the electromagnetic radiation. Removal of lenses shall have caused the cornea "ablation" and thus the subjects permanent blindness. Nilsson et al. (1, 2, 5) performed intensive animal tests which proved, that contact lenses get hot in special spectral ranges thus underlying a certain drying up. The "welding" between contact lenses and the cornea could not be confirmed by test animals, but partial glueing of contact lenses and cornea and surface lesions of the epithelium as well in some cases. Hüer and Conrads (3, 4) experimenting on enucleated pigs' eyes, reported on similar results.