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Effects of Soft Contact Lenses on Conjunctival Surface

Purpose To examine the effects of soft contact lenses on tear breakup time (TBUT), basal Schirmer test result, and the conjunctival surface in patients wearing contact lenses. Methods In this study, conjunctival cytologic changes, TBUT, and Schirmer test function alterations of soft contact lens wearers were evaluated by impression cytology. The study included 100 eyes of 50 soft contact lens wearers who were followed up in the Department of Ophthalmology of Dicle University and 80 eyes of 40 subjects as a control group. After TBUT and basal Schirmer test, conjunctival surface epithelial morphology was investigated using impression cytology. After the materials were appropriately stained, they were evaluated according to the Nelson grading scale. Results Contact lens wearers were divided into three groups according to the duration of contact lens wear. When these groups were evaluated according to the Nelson grading method, 21% of cases were grade 0; 32% were grade 1; and 28% were grade 3. There were statistically significant differences in epithelial cell morphology, goblet cell density, snakelike chromatin changes, TBUT, and basal Schirmer test result between the control and study groups. Conclusions We suggest that TBUT and Schirmer test result be carefully monitored in contact lens wearers. Impression cytology may be used as a safe, simple, and noninvasive method in the diagnosis of ocular surface alternations in patients with contact lens intolerance.