1-DAY ACUVUE® TRUEYE™ Brand Contact Lenses have just been awarded the American Optometric Association’s Seal of Acceptance for Ultraviolet Absorbing Contact Lenses. This is the fifth member of the ACUVUE contact lenses family to have been given this seal.

The American Optometric Association’s Commission on Ophthalmic Standards, which made the decision, conducts independent assessment of eye care products. In the Commission’s opinion, 1-DAY ACUVUE® TRUEYE lenses meet all the AOA’s standards regarding UV protection, which have been established in accordance with the specifications set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Standards Organization (ISO).

The lenses block over 90% of UVA rays and 99 percent of UVB rays that reach their surface; these values mean that the lenses provide the highest level of UV protection. However, Dr Citek (Chair of the Commission on Ophthalmic Standards) warns that patients should use additional protective measure, such as UV-blocking sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats, to obtain maximum UV protection.

A study entitled "Emergency Department Visits for Medical Device-Associated Adverse Events Among Children", published on 26 July, disclosed an alarming number of ER visits caused by problems associated with contact lens wear, especially infections and abrasions. The study reviewed the records of ER departments at 100 hospitals and found that as many as 23% of cases were connected with contact lens injuries in children and teenagers.

The AAO stated that the results of the study support the Academy’s long-standing position that contact lenses need to be bought on prescription, fitted by a professional and require the consumer’s proper care. In addition, when it comes to children and teenagers, it is of vital importance to provide them with all the essential information on the risks of failure to comply with the recommendations of ophthalmologists and contact lens manufacturers.

There are no data indicating whether the injuries were caused by lenses bought on prescription or through over-the-counter sales, but the Academy emphasises that, as problems may occur even if proper care is maintained, all lenses must be fitted by eye care professionals.

Johnson & Johnson has decided to recall a batch of 1-Day Acuvue TruEye daily contact lenses manufactured in Ireland. The direct reason for the decision was eye irritation and discomfort (pain or stinging) experienced by some of their Japanese users. The complaints, however, are very unlikely to cause any long-term consequences.

The recalled batch consists of 4,000 boxes. Johnson & Johnson started an investigation into the problem and issued a statement explaining the situation. The statement pointed to an “isolated issue” concerning one production line and was connected with the lens rinsing process. According to the company, no other brand of contact lenses produced by Johnson & Johnson was affected by the issue; corrective measures have been implemented immediately to make sure that all lenses produced by the company meet appropriate quality standards.

As is customary in such cases, all users of 1-Day Acuvue TruEye contact lenses who are affected by the problem may return their lenses and receive new ones in exchange.

It is worth noting that the affected batch does not seem to have found its way to us, which is not surprising as it was produced in Japan. To be sure we checked all the stock in our warehouses and found none with the defect batch numbers.

The Australian Vision Cooperative Research Centre (Vision CRC) has been conducting extensive research into short-sightedness to find a way of stopping its progress. Recently, the discovery of a new technology has been announced.

The scientists from the centre found out that simple vision correction, used both in eyeglasses and contact lenses, does not reduce the progression of myopia because it places peripheral vision behind the retina, leading to the elongation of the eye and therefore to increased short-sightedness.

The new technology, a result of a study conducted on more than 500 children in Australia and China, shifts the peripheral vision onto or even in front of the retina, simultaneously putting the central image on the retina, giving the patient perfect vision.

The managers of the centre licensed the technology to two companies. Carl Zeiss Vision acquired the rights to develop spectacles implementing the idea, while CIBA VISION, the manufacturer of AIR OPTIX and Focus® DAILIES® contact lenses, obtained the licence to produce similar contact lenses.

A long-term study, called the Stabilizing Myopia by Accelerating Reshaping Technique (SMART) study, has been examining whether orthokeratology lenses can be safely and effectively used to control the progression of myopia in children.

267 children aged 8 to 14 are participating in the study, which is being conducted at 10 research centres in the US. 162 of the children have been fitted with ortho-k lenses and will wear them nightly throughout the five-year-long period of the study. The rest of the children, who constitute a control group, will wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses and replace them every month.

Every year, the children who wear ortho-k lenses will return the lenses and receive soft contact lenses to wear for some time, during which the investigators will examine their eyesight. Subsequently, the results of the examination will be compared with the data from the beginning of the study to assess how the ortho-k lenses influenced the progression of myopia.

According to the designers of the study, because of its length and scope, it will provide us with more information about orthokeratology than all the previous studies.