Expanding Your Use of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses: Using Lotrafilcon A for Daily Wear

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to profile contact lens (CL) experience among patients in eyecare practitioner (ECP) offices and the response to daily wear (DW) of lotrafilcon A silicone hydrogel CLs. METHODS: Patients at ECP offices were surveyed for their vision correction modality and experience with CLs. Adapted, new, and former CL wearers who were interested in trying CLs were dispensed lotrafilcon A (NIGHT & DAY, CIBA VISION, Duluth, GA) lenses for a 1 month trial of DW. RESULTS: One thousand eight hundred sixty-five surveys were returned with 60% indicating current CL use averaging 6.4 days/week, 13.6 hr/day with 92% satisfied with their current lenses and 58% comfortable all day. Two hundred sixteen patients (59% adapted hydroxyl-ethylmethacrylate or rigid gas permeable CL wearers, 21% new/former, 20% no answer) were enrolled to wear lotrafilcon A CLs. Lens care systems were chosen for new and former wearers by the ECPs from among those approved and available in the countries and were primarily multipurpose systems. Among adapted CL wearers, statistically significant improvements were found within 2 weeks for conjunctival redness (P = 0.023), limbal redness (P< 0.001), corneal neovascularization (P < 0.001), during the day and end-of-day dryness (P = 0.02 for each) and early removal because of dryness (P = 0.02). Seventy-two percent reported comfort all day with lotrafilcon A CLs. New and former wearers at 2 weeks showed increased epithelial microcysts (P = 0.048). New and former wearers at 2 weeks compared with adapted wearers at baseline had less frequent early removal during the day, burning or stinging, uncomfortable lenses, and photophobia while reporting more problems inserting and removing lenses. No adverse events were reported with lotrafilcon A CLs. Adapted CL wearers showed improved clinical signs, subjective symptoms, and comfort when changed to lotrafilcon A for DW. New or former wearers showed few significant changes from baseline in clinical signs and had symptoms similar to nonsilicone hydrogel wearers. CONCLUSIONS: Lotrafilcon A lenses can be successfully dispensed for DW.