Use of Multifocal Contact Lenses to Stimulate Axial Elongation in Axial Hyperopia

Hyperopia or farsightedness may cause distance vision and near vision to be blurred. Depending on the severity of the condition and the age of the patient and the status of the binocular vision system, hyperopia can also cause fatigue, asthenopia, headaches, double vision, and amblyopia. Low to moderate amounts of hyperopia rarely cause much difficulty in the young person, but will eventually cause significant near vision problems as the patient ages. Hyperopia can be caused by the eye being too short (axial hyperopia) or by the cornea being too flat or the crystalline lens being to weak (refractive hyperopia). It has been established by the PI that axial growth can be dramatically lessened in children and adolescents with myopia through the use of bifocal contact lenses prescribed in a particular way (The CONTROL Study). Studies by Earl Smith, O.D., Ph.D. have suggested that multi-zonal contact lenses that provide proper axial focus while manipulating peripheral defocus can either discourage or encourage axial growth to treat myopia or hyperopia respectively. In the present study, simultaneous vision bifocal soft contact lenses will be used to encourage axial growth in hyperopic children and adolescents with axial hyperopia in an effort to reduce hyperopia. Subjects will be randomly assigned to wear either bifocal soft contact lenses or single vision soft lenses. The bifocal contact lenses will be prescribed to provide for clear central vision at both distance and near with the near zone of the contact, thus exposing the retina to hyperopic defocus from the distance zone.