Intolerant contact lens wearers exhibit ocular surface impairment despite 3 months wear discontinuation

Purpose: To evaluate ocular surface (OS) parameters recovery in intolerant contact lens (CL) wearers after a period of discontinuation.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of data from 87 intolerant CL wearers who had discontinued their use for an average period of 12 weeks because of associated discomfort and failure to successfully refit. Data were collected from clinical charts. Data from 50 matched healthy volunteers served as controls. Clinical tests included subjective discomfort symptoms questionnaire (Ocular Surface Disease Index, OSDI), Schirmer test, break-up time (BUT), corneal esthesiometry and corneo-conjunctival staining. Laboratory tests included scraping and imprint cytology. Tear protein analysis included dosage of total tear protein (TP), lysozyme-C (LYS-C), lactoferrin (LACTO), zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG-2), IgA heavy chain bands (Ig-A), and serum albumin (ALB). Data were correlated to wear parameters.

Results: All values were significantly worse in intolerant CL wearers group (p always <0.001). In particular, lower values compared to controls were found for BUT, corneal esthesiometry, goblet cell density, LYS-C, LACTO, ZAG-2, and TP. On the contrary, higher values compared to controls were found for OSDI, staining, imprint cytology, scraping cytology, ALB, IgA-heavy chain. The IgA/LYS-C ratio calculated as an index of the increased activity of the IgA-producing cell was found significantly higher in the intolerant group and in correlation with discomfort symptoms.

Conclusions: Ocular surface parameters were altered in intolerant CL wearers, even after a prolonged discontinuation period. Our data suggest that OS recovery necessary to successfully refit lenses may need a discontinuation time longer than 3 months.