Long-Term Effect Of The Scleral Contact Lens Use On The Endothelial Cell Density In Patients With Keratokonus

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the endothelial cell density in patients with keratoconus who are long-term wearers of scleral contact lens.

Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Turkey.

The patient records at the contact lens department of the Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine were reviewed retrospectively between January 2018 and December 2023. The specular microscopic (Cell-Chek SL; Konan, Japan) measurements of the patients with keratoconus who use scleral contact lens were enrolled. Endothelial cell density (ECD), coefficient of variability (CV), hexagonal cell percentage (HEX) and central corneal thickness (CCT) were evaluated. A total of fifty eyes of 30 patients with keratokonus who were long-term wearers of scleral contact lens were included. The average duration of scleral contact lens use of the patients was 5±2 years.

Among patients with keratokonus who were long-term wearers of scleral contact lens, the mean ECD was 2449.9±435, the mean CV was 39.9±8, the mean HEX was 47.7±9, the mean CCT was 514.6±56. However the mean ECD was 2775.6±406, the mean CV was 38.7±7, the mean HEX was 49.2±8, the mean CCT was 510.1±51 in patients with keratokonus who did not use any contact lens. Although significant differences were detected in terms of ECT between the patients with who use scleral contact lens and who do not use any contact lens (p < 0.05), there was no significant difference in terms of CV, HEX and CCT between groups (p > 0.05).

Although significant difference was found between the patients with keratokonus who use scleral contact lens and the patients with keratoconus who do not use any contact lens in terms of ECT, no difference was detected among these groups in terms of CV, HEX and CCT. In this study, we report that using scleral contact lens in patients with keratoconus causes reduction in the endothelial cell density over years.

The authors have no financial interest in any material discussed in the study.