Gas-Permeable Lenses Beneficial After Congenital Glaucoma Surgery

TUESDAY, Nov. 25, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For children undergoing primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) surgery, use of rigid gas-permeable contact lenses (RGPCLs) is associated with superior visual acuity compared with spectacles, according to a study published online Nov. 6 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Jinyun Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., from the State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology in Guangzhou, China, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial to compare the use of RGPCLs versus continued spectacle use for improving visual outcomes for children after PCG surgery (aged 4 to 15 years). Fifty-six children with surgically managed PCG and poor spectacle response were randomly assigned to RGPCLs or spectacles for 12 months (29 and 27 patients, respectively), plus standardized amblyopia patching.

The researchers found that in the RGPCL and spectacles groups, the mean baseline worse-eye spherical equivalents were −6.55 and −5.17 diopters, respectively; the mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.99 and 1.02 logMAR, respectively (approximate Snellen equivalent, 20/200); and the mean intraocular pressure was 14.98 and 13.36 mm Hg, respectively. The RGPCL group had greater BCVA improvement at one year (mean, 0.31 versus 0.12 logMAR). Overall, 62.5 and 37.5 percent of participants in the RGPCL and spectacles groups, respectively, had achievement of two or more lines of BCVA improvement (odds ratio, 6.83). Greater contrast sensitivity function improvement was seen in the RGPCL group (0.40 versus 0.13). Near stereoacuity of 60 arcseconds or less was achieved by 50.0 and 25.0 percent in the RGPCL and spectacles groups, respectively (odds ratio, 6.96). There were no serious adverse events observed.

“These results support RGPCLs as an alternative for children with poor spectacle response,” the authors write.

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