Study of the Factors Associated With the Presence of White Dots in the Corneas of Regular Soft Contact Lens Users From an Asian Country

Abstract

: Confocal microscopy allows visualization of WDs in the corneas of Asian regular SCL users. Patients with WDs have a longer history of SCL wear. WDs may represent an early stage of corneal disease or degeneration associated with alterations in cell behavior.

Nidek ConfoScan 4 (Z-Ring) Measurements Over Soft Contact Lenses

“…Confocal microscopy are currently being used extensively in research on corneal diseases, 9,29 corneal changes from contact lens wear, 17,18 and refractive surgery. 31 It has also been used to study the morphologic change of the corneas in ortho-k wearers.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] Confocal microscopes allow high magnification corneal observation, which aids the ocular disease diagnosis 3,5-9 and the monitoring of the morphologic changes of corneal cells after refractive surgery [10][11][12][13][14] and contact lens wear. [15][16][17][18][19][20] The ConfoScan 4 (CS4) (Nidek Technologies, Padova, Italy) is one which allows in vivo corneal assessment and thickness measurement. The z-ring, an accessory device to reduce the motion between the objective lens and the cornea, can be used in conjunction with the CS4 to allow accurate pachymetry.…”

Corneal structure, transparency, thickness and optical density (densitometry), especially as relevant to contact lens wear—a review

“…Such micro-opacities may be more noticeable when some corneal swelling is evident since some of these changes were associated with modest (but chronic) oedema to the extent that striae could be evident thus indicating that the more posterior aspect of the corneal stroma was affected. With a much higher resolution assessments by confocal microscopy (CFM), even smaller opacities have been observed in modern-day contact lens wearers [59][60][61][62], and referred to as 'microdots' or 'white dots'. These may be more obvious in the posterior stroma and so be linked to posterior stromal oedema [62].…”

“…With a much higher resolution assessments by confocal microscopy (CFM), even smaller opacities have been observed in modern-day contact lens wearers [59][60][61][62], and referred to as 'microdots' or 'white dots'. These may be more obvious in the posterior stroma and so be linked to posterior stromal oedema [62]. Similarly, general increases in the scattered light was reported to be observed at all depths of the cornea in contact lens wearers compared to non-lens wearing individuals [28].…”

“…Such sensitivity to objective optical measures should also be relevant to assessing the long-term effects of contact lens wear on the cornea. Corneal thickness differences or changes are a possible characteristic of adjustment to contact lens wear [4,[34][35][36][37]45,46,63,75,76], but any one consequence of long term contact lens wear could be the development of discrete opacities [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62]. Such effects may be very regional, e.g.…”