RGP Lens Fittings on the Rise

HOT TOPIC

Don’t Call It a Comeback!

A new study shows increased rigid gas permeable (RGP) fittings over the past 12 years as scleral lenses and orthokeratology have continued to gain popularity, notably among younger optometrists.

As technology has continued to improve and advance in all types of contact lenses, a recent study published in Contact Lens and Anterior Eye shows that “hard” lenses are making a comeback. From 2000 to 2023, an annual contact lens prescribing survey was sent to eye care practitioners in 71 countries. Data from 342,500 contact lens fits were analyzed regarding RGP lens fittings. The study shows increased interest in fitting these hard lenses, namely scleral lenses and myopia control/orthokeratology.

The numbers show a modest increase in RGP fits over time, from 14.2% of all lens fits in 2000 to 15.2% in 2023. However, upon further investigation of the data, the researchers note that between 2000 and 2012, there was a steady decline in fits, followed by a steady increase. What was also notable was that the proportion of RGPs fit with high-Dk materials over the past 12 years increased from 36% in 2011 to 67% in 2023.

My Two Cents

As mentioned, my clinic primarily deals with specialty lenses and patients with dry eye. It’s lovely that the number of hard lens fits has seemingly increased over the past few years. I firmly believe no lenses give our patients better visual acuity than a properly fit RGP lens. It’s also encouraging that the gospel of myopia management seems to be landing on open ears in the profession.

Each day, I hear patients say, “I used to wear those old-fashioned hard lenses,” and they are seemingly amazed that I fit these lenses. It’s obvious patients think hard lenses went the way of the dodo bird and rotary phones. Let’s make sure they don’t. Especially for those difficult-to-please patients or those with unusual refractions. Don’t forget about these incredible lenses!

OUTSIDE THE LANE

Another Case of Bird Flu Reported in a Human

On July 3rd, the fourth case of human bird flu was detected in the United States, this time in a Colorado dairy worker. The virus is responsible for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu. Interestingly, the dairy worker was in close contact with cows and reported only “eye symptoms,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The worker immediately took antiviral medication and has since recovered, the CDC noted. According to the US Department of Agriculture, Colorado has the highest number of affected herds, while Michigan has the highest number of tests on humans potentially infected with the virus. Also of note: A cat in Colorado has tested positive for the strain of bird flu despite having no known contact with poultry or dairy operations.

An article in The Guardian discusses how the United States plans to expand testing for bird flu and its strategies for producing more H5N1 vaccines.

My Two Cents

According to the CDC, the dairy worker only noted “eye symptoms.” The article does not go into any specifics. Upon my research, I found that a viral conjunctivitis is what we should expect in a patient in this particular situation. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, two of the other three patients with bird flu in 2024 also had ocular symptoms. They noted watery ocular discharge, uniform ocular injection, light sensitivity, and systemic flu/mild cold symptoms, including a cough, sore throat, fever, runny nose, headache, and fatigue. From here on out, I’ll ask my patients with viral conjunctivitis if they’ve interacted with dairy cows—although that’s uncommon in southern Louisiana. It’s too hot for those cows!

CAN YOU RELATE

We don’t do a good enough job of acknowledging non-OD industry members who are helping our profession and colleagues grow. While perusing LinkedIn, I stumbled across a friend and former contact lens rep in Louisiana named Erich Mattei. I’ve known Erich for years, and his enthusiasm for all things contact lenses has always impressed me, but now his enthusiasm has shifted to independent optometry.

In today’s world, we often hear all the doom and gloom regarding health care and, notably, independent optometric practices. Erich brings a fresh and contagious positivity towards independence and optometry as a whole. Although I don’t own my practice, we are still “independent” and face many of the same challenges as many of you readers out there. Not only that, even if you work in a corporate office, having passionate advocates for optometry is vital to our profession as we continue to shoulder more and more of the medical eye care burden. It’s important to remember that as the population ages, more eye care practitioners will be needed to handle this “gray tsunami” of patients. Ophthalmology’s numbers will remain stagnant (in fact, they will likely drop), and these MDs will want to spend most of their time performing high-reimbursement procedures in their surgery suites. The last thing they will want to do is handle routine glaucoma cases or time-intensive dry eye cases.

Let’s continue to encourage our colleagues and friends like Mr. Mattei to spread the gospel of optometry. I encourage everyone to follow him on LinkedIn and then not be motivated after reading his posts and watching his videos. Oh, and by the way—if you know of any Erichs—make sure you let them know how much they’re appreciated and how much it means to all of us that they are helping to push our profession forward.