Soft prosthetic contact lens practice in Indian scenario

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the prescribing trend of prosthetic soft contact lens (PSCL) in a tertiary eye care center inIndia.Design: RetrospectiveMethods: The electronic medical records of 223 patients who were prescribed PSCL for various indications for a period of 1 year in a tertiary eye care center were investigated. Parameters investigated were age, gender, indication for PSCL, prescribed base curve, diameter, type and iris tint of PSCL, number of trials required to achieve desirable cosmesis or fit, duration of use of PSCL and number of PSCLs dispensed from off the shelf.Result: A total 223 patients were prescribed PSCL for a period of 1 year, of which 221 patients were prescribed PSCL for one eye and only 2 patients for both the eyes. The mean age of the patients was 29.15 years (SD ± 12.65). Majority of the patients were male (64.57%). Type D PSCL was prescribed for 183 eyes (81.33%), type C PSCL for 38 eyes (16.88%) and type A PSCL for only 4 eyes (1.77%).Among type D PSCL users 81.96% eyes were fitted with various shades of brown colour iris tint. The main categories for prescribing type D soft PSCLs were corneal opacity (34.42%; 63 eyes), band shaped keratopathy (19.67%; 36 eyes) and vascularized corneal opacity (13.11%; 24 eyes). The most common base curves prescribed among type D PSCL users were 8.6 and 8.7 mm and most common diameters prescribed were 13.8 and 14 mm.The major categories for prescribing type C PSCLs were corneal abnormalities (55.26%; 21 eyes) and pupil or iris abnormalities (34.21%; 13 eyes).Only four patients (four eyes) were prescribed with type A PSCL and the only reason was leukocoria due to cataract.Conclusions: PSCL can be a better option for cosmesis in patients with disfigured eyes who do not want complicated surgeries or procedures like enucleation with prosthesis shell implantation or corneal tattooing. Customization is also necessary for PSCL for better fitting and iris colour matching as per the fellow (unaffected) eye.