Purpose: To report a series of consecutive cases for which a lotrafilcon A silicone hydrogel soft contact lens was used in therapeutic applications.
Methods: Three practitioners in Spain, Denmark, and Germany supplied 41 consecutive case reports on 39 patients for whom a lotrafilcon A silicone hydrogel soft contact lens was used in therapeutic applications for erosion or recurrent erosion, bullous keratopathy, corneal edema, corneal dystrophy, neurotrophic corneal ulcer, entropion, and after corneal surgeries. Practitioners reported their judgements of pain relief, change in corneal signs by slitlamp evaluation, additional complications, and success of therapeutic lens treatment. Twenty cases that had completed treatment and 21 that remained under ongoing treatment were reported.
Results: Complete pain relief was reported for 78% of cases with 94% reporting pain relief of 50% or more. Corneal signs were restored to normal for 74% of cases with 100% showing at least partial improvement. No additional complications were reported in 83% of cases. Therapeutic contact lens application was judged fully successful for 71% of cases with 93% showing at least partial success.
Conclusion: The high-Dk lotrafilcon A lens met or exceeded the outcomes reported from historic reports of therapeutic applications of low-Dk soft contact lenses. Whereas the case reporting conditions may vary among the historic studies and from the current study, there is the indication that success may be improved with the lotrafilcon A high-Dk lens.