OBJECTIVE: To determine the rate of myopia progression in children fit with a commercially available extended depth of focus (center distance) multifocal soft contact lens with attributes theoretically expected to slow the progression of myopia.
METHODS: A retrospective
case series analysis of 32 patients (ages 6-19 years, mean 10.98±2.95) from 10 practice locations was performed. At initial presentation, 44% wore spectacles, 37.5% spherical soft contact lenses, 15.6% a different soft multifocal contact lens, and 3% orthokeratology lenses. All participants showed progression of at least -0.50 diopter with current corrections and were fit with an extended depth of focus (center distance) multifocal soft contact lens (NaturalVue Multifocal 1 Day Contact Lenses; Visioneering Technologies, Inc., Alpharetta, GA). Follow-up time was 6 to 25 months (mean: 10.94±4.76).
RESULTS: Reductions in the annualized rate of myopic progression from -0.85 D per year ±0.43 D to -0.04 D per year ±0.18 D (P<0.00000) OD, -0.90 D per year ±0.57 D to -0.03 D per year ±0.17 D (P<0.00000) OS were observed. These data represent a reduction of 95.4% OD and 96.25% OS. Approximately 98.4% of the children showed reduction of annualized myopic progression; 91% showed a decrease of 70% or greater. Overall, 81.25% showed complete halting of myopic progression, including 6.25% demonstrating myopic regression.
CONCLUSIONS: This unique extended depth of focus (center distance) daily disposable multifocal contact lens was effective in slowing myopic progression in these children. These findings add to the growing evidence that center distance multifocal soft contact lenses may slow the progression of myopia.