This is the report of a case of bilateral
Acanthamoeba keratitis in a 19-year-old woman who bought a pair of disposable
soft contact lenses in a boutique. She wore this same pair of
lenses for 3 months daily without the appropriate care. This led to bilateral
corneal transplantation with
cataract extraction and also
trabeculectomy in the right eye. When last seen, both grafts were crystal clear but the visual acuities were far from satisfactory. She also had bilateral secondary
glaucoma, barely controlled by topical medication. Actually, the physical features and the wearing time characteristics of the disposable
soft contact lenses created unprecedented difficulties to the medical surveillance of their wearers. Without the right assistance they tend to become careless regarding routine cleaning. They also feel free to buy less expensive
lenses, to use saline instead of lens solutions, to violate the limits of wearing time and to extend the use over the sleeping period. Additionally, the aggressive marketing and the wide distribution of these
lenses increase the chances that economically or educationally unprepared people will acquire them. The question that remains is: Is the present case an accidental event or an example of what is likely to happen in the future if the indiscriminate selling of disposable
soft contact lenses continues to evolve?