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ABSTRACT Purpose. The purpose of this study is to contrast the clinical and vision-related quality of life outcomes between Synergeyes, a hybrid contact lens, and Bausch & Lomb Soflens 66 Toric contact lenses in a cross-over design. Also, to determine subject preference of one mode of lens wear over the other. Methods. The Synergeyes lens has a central rigid gas permeable portion made of Paragon HDS100 material (paflufocon D) bonded to the nonionic hydrophilic skirt material of 27% water (PolyHEMA hem-iberfilcon A). The Soflens 66 Toric lensismadeofanonionichydrophilic66%water(alphafilconA)material.Subjectsage18yearsandolderwithspherical refractive error between
0.50 and
8.00 D and astigmatism correction of
0.75 to
3.50 D were randomly assigned to wear one mode of contact lens for 1 month then wear the alternate mode for 1 month. Follow-up visits were done at 1and4weeks.Datagatheredatthesevisitsincludedhigh-contrastlogMARdistancevisualacuity,averagewearingtime, comfortable wearing time, over-refraction, and slit lamp observations for corneal edema, conjunctival hyperemia, and corneal staining. At each visit, subjects were asked to rate overall comfort, dryness, and comfortable wearing time. SubjectswereaskedtocompletetheNEI-RQL-42questionnaireattheendofeachlenswearingperiod.Uponcompletion of both lens wearing modes, subjects were asked to choose their preferred mode. Results. Fifty subjects completed the study; 22 (44%) preferred the Synergeyes lenses, and 28 (56%) preferred the Soflens 66 Toric soft lenses. Measured visual acuity was significantly better with the Synergeyes lenses. Of the 13 attributes analyzed in the RQL-42, a statistically significant difference between the two modes was found in only one category, “symptoms.” In that category, subjects indicated fewer symptoms when wearing soft lenses. The subjects’ ratings also showed significantly more comfort while wearing the soft toric lenses. Conclusions. Bausch & Lomb Soflens 66 Toric lenses were more comfortable and were perceived to produce less symptoms of dryness, itchiness, and lens awareness than Synergeyes lenses. Synergeyes lenses gave better visual acuity than the soft toric lenses. (Optom Vis Sci 2007;84:593–597)
Key Words: Synergeyes, Bausch & Lomb Soflens 66 Toric, vision-related quality of life, NEI RQL-42, hybrid contact lenses