Extended-wear contact lenses in 525 aphakic eyes.

Extended-wear contact lenses were fitted to 225 patients with monocular aphakia and 150 with bilateral aphakia. They were observed from three months to three years. Eighty-eight of the 195 eyes fitted with a Softcon lens became red and painful within 14 days during extended wear. The Hydrocurve lens was better tolerated in 55, but many patients had acute congestion, pain, and tearing. Deposits accumulated rapidly on the Sauflon-PW lens. Some 90% of all patients can be fitted successfully with the cellulose acetate butyrate lens or the silicone lens. The silicone coating of the silicone lens is lost or damaged in about 20% of the patients because of excess mucous accumulation.