How many contact lens-related corneal infections did you have in your practice last year? The end of the year is always a good time to look forward, but let's not forget to reflect back and appreciate the things that happened this year. And the things that didn't happen. In politics, it is a given that you never get credit for things that don't happen, but it is the same in our practices. We put a lot of emphasis on lens safety and compliance. And despite the fact that the literature and many colleagues on the podium keep telling us that our patients' compliance is bad, whether through our fault or not, the end result is not all that bad as contact lenses continue to satisfy millions of people around the world without a large number of significant problems. This is especially true with (R)GP lenses as we know. Ed Bennett in the (R)GP annual report in Contact Lens Spectrum (October 2010) highlighted nicely that large-diameter/scleral lens designs, multifocal designs and corneal reshaping seem to have the greatest potential. Personally, I think that in every single practice, anywhere in the world, between 10% and 20% of patients can benefit from (R)GP lenses. Soon we will have the Eurolens survey data on lens fits available again for a reality check. But for now, I am going to pour a nice (big) glass of red wine, look back and think of all the red eyes that we didn't see in our practices this year. Wishing you a happy (and white) Christmas and a bright and safe 2011.

Something to track in the new year is the development of an artificial cornea. The results of a study by Fagerholm et al on biosynthetic corneas to restore vision in 10 patients (nine keratoconic eyes and one with a mid-stromal scar) was presented. At the two-year follow up, all 10 biosynthetic implants remained not only stable, but the researchers also found that cells and nerves from the patients' own corneas had grown into the implant. In six of these patients vision improved, and with contact lenses vision was comparable to conventional corneal transplantation with human donor tissue. See the October issue of Review of Ophthalmology for coverage of the study and the link below for an abstract of the original paper.

Straylight, which is described as 'light noise,' has gained a lot of interest lately in contact lens wear, not only during this Christmas time. A team from Amsterdam (the Netherlands) looked at straylight in soft and (R)GP lens wearers, and they found that the amount of straylight in soft lens wear was similar while wearing soft lenses and after their removal. In (R)GP lens wear the straylight measurements were much larger in general: during lens wear for certain, but even after lens removal. This effect was mentioned as potentially due to deposits on the lens as well as from unwanted corneal topography changes underneath of the lens.