Extended-Wear Contact Lenses in Patients with Corneal Grafts and Aphakia

Extended-wear contact lenses (EWCL) were fitted successfully on 61 aphakic eyes with penetrating corneal grafts. In two- to 32-months follow-up there were 26 eyes that had varying amounts of superficial neovascularization of the grafts and one Staphylococcus epidermidis corneal graft ulcer. There were five homograft rejections, all occurring in severely diseased eyes. Variable vision and visual acuity less than that with hard contact lenses or aphakic spectacles were the most frequent problems. Both were due to the high corneal astigmatism present in many patients. The results indicate that EWCLs may be used safely by patients with penetrating corneal grafts and aphakia, particularly if there is no host corneal edema, scarring, or vascularization, if there are no synechias to the graft wound, and if the astigmatism is less than 3.0 diopters.