Re: ‘Are eye-care practitioners fitting scleral contact lenses?’

Abstract

To the Deputy Editor, We read with great interest the recent survey about the extent of scleral lens fitting worldwide by Wood et al. The authors found an increasing trend in the fitting of scleral lenses over the survey period. We agree with the authors that the fitting rate has significantly improved from 2006 to 2019 worldwide. The authors claimed that significant disparities have been observed among countries, which can be attributed to the higher costs of the scleral contact lens and higher levels of dexterity for fitting, and named Iran as one of the six countries with zero rate of the scleral fitting. The annals of scleral fitting in Iran refute this remark. To specify, we launched the scleral contact lens clinic in Farabi Eye Hospital Center in Iran in 2010. We have prescribed mini-scleral contact lens for hundreds of patients suffering from various medical indications including keratoconus, severe dry eye, neurotrophic keratopathy, chemical burn, and other ocular surface disorders, as well as for optical correction in patients with corneal irregularities after penetrating keratoplasty and intra-corneal ring segment implantation and radial keratotomy. The effective role of the scleral contact lens in our patients has been previously published. Many of these topics have also been presented in European Contact Lens Society of Ophthalmologists (ECLSO), World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) and American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) congresses since 2012. Based on our best knowledge, an increasing national trend has occurred in Iran. Other centres in Iran have also been managing less challenging patients by fitting scleral contact lens during recent years after the publication of our results in national congresses and seminars. This incorrect claim of the authors might be due to the survey method they used. We believe that the respected authors could present real data by validating/re-confirming their major findings through a bibliographic search in PubMed, Google Scholar and so forth. We would appreciate it if you kindly correct this misinformation in your next volume. References