A subjective method of monitoring corneal scattering.

Border-enhancement spread is a new criterion for assessing the quality of the retinal image. In one study, it was found that the width of the enhanced region increases with the steepness of a contact lens fit, and this increase was attributed to scattering accompanying corneal edema arising from tight-fitting lenses. The present study tested this hypothesis. Corneal thickness and border-enhancement spread were measured concurrently at regular intervals during and after contact lens wear. It was found that border-enhancement spread generally follows changes in corneal thickness. Since scattering increases with corneal swelling, the findings generally support the hypothesis. However, it was also found that variables not originating in the cornea sometimes modify the retinal-image quality and thus mask the scattering effects. Future applications of the methods are discussed.