Layout 1
contact lens
case reports
Old
Multifocal Technology with Exciting New Results
BY PATRICK J. CAROLINE,
FAAO, & MARK P. ANDRé, FAAO
Today, most practitioners agree that
a translating GP design often provides the best option for optimum distance and
near correction for presbyopia. This is especially true for astigmatic presbyopes.
However, one of the major obstacles with most translating/alternating vision designs
is the prism ballast, which orients the near segment inferiorly to facilitate lower
lid interaction and lens translation.
In the evolution of presbyopic
rigid lenses, manufacturers often improve designs from the '60s and '70s and reintroduce
them. One is the ContinuVu multifocal lens (Essilor), a De Carle lens design with
a 3.5mm distance center surrounded by 360 degrees of near add power (Figure 1).
It's a translating vision design that eliminates many problems associated with traditional
ballasted lenses. With the near portion of the lens surrounding the center distance,
patients need only to gaze slightly down to find the add portion of the lens.
Patient
SK is a 52-year-old female struggling with near vision through her current aspheric
multifocal GP lenses. We decided that we might enhance her visual performance by
switching to a translating lens design.
ContinuVu
lens fitting begins by obtaining central keratometric readings; SK's were OD 42.75
@ 175/44.50 @ 85, OS 43.00 @ 10/ 44.75 @ 100 with a manifest refraction of OD –3.00
–1.50 x180, OS –3.25 –1.50 x005. We design initial lenses on or
near flat K and order empirically as diagnostic lenses. We apply the initial lenses
and evaluate the lens-to-cornea fitting relationship. Optimum fit should demonstrate
centration over the pupil with moderate movement with the blink. The fluorescein
pattern should show pooling in the lens center surrounded by a wide band of fluorescein
thinning indicating midperipheral lens alignment.
A major advantage of the ContinuVu
design is the ease you can interpret the fluorescein patterns (Figure 2). A flat
lens will exhibit minimal apical clearance with nasal or temporal decentration due
to a loss of lens alignment in the midperiphery, while a steep lens will exhibit
excessive apical clearance and/or a bubble beneath the lens center.
Perform an out-of-phoropter refraction
over the initial diagnostic lenses (at both distance and near) to verify lens powers.
In our hands the ContinuVu design
combines the comfort of a traditional, non-ballasted GP design with the optics of
a translating bifocal. We find the lens extremely beneficial in managing astigmatic
presbyopes interested in optimum binocular distance and near corrections.
Patrick Caroline
is an associate professor of optometry at Pacific University and is an assistant
professor of ophthalmology at the Oregon Health Sciences University. He is also
a consultant to Paragon Vision Sciences and SynergEyes, Inc. Mark André is
an associate professor of optometry at Pacific University. He is also a consultant
for Alcon Labs, CooperVision and SynergEyes, Inc.
Contact Lens Spectrum, Issue: February 2007