The Effects of Short-Term Lens Wear and Eye Rubbing on the Corneal Epithelium

Objectives: To measure the effects of short-term high oxygen-transmissible (Dk) soft and rigid contact lens wear and eye rubbing on basal epithelial appearance and epithelial thickness. Methods: Ten subjects were enrolled in a randomized crossover study. The subjects' left eye was used as a control, and the right eye either wore a high Dk soft lens, high Dk parallel fitted rigid gas-permeable lens, or was rubbed on 3 separate days. Epithelial basal cell regularity and central and peripheral epithelial thickness were assessed before and after 6-hr soft or rigid lens wear or 10-min rubbing using in vivo confocal microscopy and modified optical pachometry. Results: Basal cell regularity was unaffected by short-term lens wear or eye rubbing (Friedman Test, P=0.11 and 0.37 in test and control eyes, respectively). The peripheral epithelium was thicker than the central epithelium (repeated-measures analysis of variance, P=0.03) but remained unaffected by short-term lens wear or eye rubbing (repeated-measures analysis of variance, P>0.05, power <0.08). Conclusions: Conical epithelial thickness and basal cell morphology were not affected by short-term lens wear or eye rubbing in this pilot study.