Long term effects of the daily wear of senofilcon A silicone hydrogel contact lenses on eyelid tissues

PurposeEyelid changes have been reported with silicone hydrogel contact lenses. It is hypothesized that those changes are associated with the mechanical interaction between the contact lens front surface and eyelid tissues and, are specific to contact lens type rather than a general effect of the lens category. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of refitting into a silicone hydrogel on a daily wear basis to current contact lens wearers, lapsed wearers and neophytes on eyelid physiology.MethodsThe investigation was a 2-year prospective investigation of ACUVUE® OASYS(R)with HYDRACLEAR®Plus (senofilcon A) used with care systems, representative of current practice.Results90 subjects were enrolled of whom 64 subjects completed the investigation. The results obtained were as follows:(i)For current non-wearers, lid hyperaemia (p < 0.001) was statistically significantly lower and there was no difference in papillae (p = 0.078) at the end of the 24-month period of wear compared with baseline.(ii)For the established current wearers, lid hyperaemia (p < 0.001) and the papillae response (p = 0.001) were statistically significantly lower at the end of the 24-month period of wear than at baseline.ConclusionsThe results of the study demonstrated that senofilcon A, worn on a daily wear basis and replaced every 2 weeks, did not produce any eyelid tissue changes in previous non-contact lens wearers at baseline and revealed no change or a slight improvement of the eyelid tissues of established contact lens wearers.