Contact lenses, ophthalmology

EDITORIAL

Contact lenses, ophthalmology

Rubens Belfort Jr.

Full Professor and President of the Vision Institute, UNIFESP. Member of the National Academy of Medicine, Brazilian Academy of Sciences and Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis

In the last 50 years adaptation of contact lenses, started in the middle of the last century, spread to all countries worldwide and became an increasingly frequent option, not only among adults and the young, but also among children and presbyopic patients.

Contrariwise to what some thought, contact lenses continue to be a frequent and favorable option regarding various aspects, allowing many to continue to live without using glasses in spite of presbyopia. After 40 years of age, the number of operated patients who are frustrated because they have to use glasses for their presbyopia is as high as that of contact lens users who progressively change the power in use and continue without the need for glasses.

With the not only esthetic but also functional and sometimes therapeutic purpose, adaptation of contact lenses is today an important part of medical Ophthalmology and due to its importance it should be performed not only by physicians, but by specialists in Ophthalmology, also here in Brazil, similarly to other countries.

This Supplement of the "Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia" deserves to be commemorated, due to its excellence and because it has assembled a group of renowned authors with effective knowledge and practice in this ophthalmologic subspecialty.

Classically referred to as a controlled pathogenic agent due to their recognized capacity to release ocular diseases, contact lenses when adequately used are also treatment agents of several diseases of the here mentioned diseases of the anterior segment as well as optical correction in ectasias and superficial corneal pathologies.

The present issue not only includes characteristic aspects of the contact lens and its care regarding adaptation and maintenance, but also associated infections, quality of vision and etiopathogenesis and treatment of alterations of the ocular surface.

Also, because among its authors there are individuals of different countries, it effectively presents the possibility of the "Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia" to be a high-level ophthalmologic publication with the possibility of dissemination of updated knowledge benefiting Ophthalmology teaching and a better care of patients.

There are 43 authors of 14 institutions of 4 countries, mostly young and promising researchers of several regions of Brazil, Latin America, the United States and Japan.

According to the right editorial policy of the "Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia" a fair number of these articles are written in English making international circulation easy which is indispensable for any community or scientific explanation for over 100 years.

A last comment regarding the need of all to read not only the best publications in the Brazilian literature, but the papers should also be adequately mentioned in their publications. Only in this way we will have the "ABO" with a high impact index.

The number of articles written by Brazilians where only references of studies made abroad, frequently disengaged from our reality, are copied is deplorable.

Rubens Belfort Jr.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  27 Feb 2009
• Date of issue
  Dec 2008