Experience with extended wear hydrogel lenses for aphakia.

Nineteen of 23 aphakic eyes were able to wear a hydrogel soft lens for 3 to 14 months (average, 8.32 months). About half of the patients in the study had failed to tolerate all other types of contact lenses. The most annoying problem with the hydrogel lens was the development of surface deposits, which required cleaning or replacement of the lenses. Despite this drawback, the lenses were enthusiastically accepted and provided satisfactory vision for all the patients, several for their only functioning eye.