On the art and science of rigid contact lens fitting

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Examination of the literature can help answer the age-old question of the extent to which rigid contact lenses can be considered an art versus a science. BACKGROUND: This work aims to assemble rigid contact lens-related publication metrics to identify the most impactful papers, authors, institutions, countries and journals. METHODS: A search was undertaken of the Scopus database to identify rigid contact lens-related articles published since this lens type was first described in 1949. The 25 most highly cited papers were determined from the total list of 1,823 papers found. Rank-order lists by count were assembled for the 'top 25' in each of four categories: authors, institutions, countries and journals. A subject-specific rigid contact lens h-index (h_RL-index) was derived for each author, institution, country and journal to serve as a measure of impact in the field. A short list of the top constituents in each category were ranked by h_RL-index and tabulated. RESULTS: The most highly cited paper (467 citations) is entitled 'Risk factors and prognosis for corneal ectasia after LASIK', by Randleman et al. Karla Zadnik (h_RL = 20; 32 papers) and Richard Hill (h = 10; 50 papers) are most impactful and prolific authors, respectively. The Ohio State University (h_RL = 24; 96 papers) is the most impactful and prolific institution and the United States (h_RL = 51; 680 papers) is the most impactful and prolific country. Optometry and Vision Science (h_RL = 30; 233 papers) is the most impactful journal. CONCLUSIONS: Impactful authors, institutions, countries and journals in the field of rigid lenses are identified. Although there is perhaps an artistic element to rigid contact lens fitting, the solid literature base underpinning the field of rigid contact lenses revealed here belies the notion that rigid lenses fitting is more of an art than a science.