Photo Credit: University of Houston
A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Houston explored how multifocal contact lenses help fight myopia. David Berntsen, Golden-Golden Professor of Optometry and chair of Clinical Sciences at the University of Houston College of Optometry, and the BLINK (Bifocal Lenses In Nearsighted Kids) Study team conducted the trial.
The biggest finding: having myopic children wear high-add power multifocal contact lenses slows myopia progression. Additionally, the treatment lasts even after older children stop wearing the lenses. Dr. Berntsen has led his team at UH through both the BLINK and BLINK2 Studies.
Now Berntsen is reporting the biological changes associated with slowing eye growth when wearing multifocal lenses. This slowdown is vital since children develop myopia mainly because their eyes grow too long. Their eyes become too long from front to back, causing light to focus in front of the retina instead of directly on it. This results in blurred distance vision.
Focus on the Choroid
The choroid is a layer of blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the retina. It’s the part of the eye that detects light so we can see. Importantly, the choroid slightly thickens in children wearing high-add multifocal contact lenses. These are the same children with slower eye growth in the BLINK Study. This finding suggests that when children wear high-add contact lenses, the choroid may be involved in regulating eye growth.
“We evaluated changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness and area in children wearing soft multifocal contact lenses for myopia control,” Berntsen said in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. “After initiating contact lens wear, subfoveal choroidal thickness and choroidal area increased in the group wearing high-add multifocal contact lenses compared to those in standard contact lenses, a difference that was maintained throughout the three-year study. Increased choroidal thickness and area after two weeks were associated with less axial elongation over three years.”
