Wearing contact lenses can affect glaucoma measurements

A study about how wearing contact lenses affects glaucoma measurements has been named the top presentation at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine's annual St. Albert's Day research symposium.

First author of the study is Marie Brenner, a fourth-year student at Stritch School of Medicine.

Brenner and colleagues studied the effects of contact lens wear on retinal nerve fiber layer measurements, which ophthalmologists use to diagnose and manage glaucoma. The researchers found that in patients with lower refractive errors, better quality measurements were obtained without contact lenses in place. But in patients with higher refractive errors, wearing contact lenses could improve measurements. (A refractive error is an error in the way the eye focuses light.)

Brenner, who is from Grand Rapids, Mich., plans to do her residency in ophthalmology. Her co-authors are Pooja Jamnadas, MD; Peter Russo, OD; and Shuchi Patel, MD.

St. Albert's Day is an annual event that showcases research by students, residents, fellows, post-doctoral researchers and faculty members at Stritch. It is named after St. Albert the Great (1206-1280), a German philosopher and theologian known as "teacher of everything there is to know."