Matsuda M, MacRae S M, Inaba M, Manabe R
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Am J Ophthalmol. 1989 Mar 15;107(3):246-51. doi: 10.1016/0002-9394(89)90307-3.
Using wide-field specular microscopy, we evaluated the morphologic features of the corneal endothelium in 14 eyes of 14 patients with keratoconus who had worn a polymethylmethacrylate hard contact lens for at least four years (mean, 71 months) after penetrating keratoplasty. Comparisons were made with 14 non-lens-wearing eyes of 14 patients with keratoconus matched for age, length of postoperative period, and other variables. Examination of the endothelium of the contact lens wearers showed a significantly higher coefficient of variation in cell size (polymegethism) and a marked decrease in the percentage of hexagonal cells (pleomorphism), with a significant decrease in cell density (P less than .05). The cause of these morphologic abnormalities remains unclear but may be related to lens-induced hypoxic stress to the corneal endothelium causing ongoing cell loss.
