In the early 1960s, a group of clinicians asserted that myopia could be reduced and possibly corrected by fitting specially designed contact lenses to induce corneal flattening and thereby reduce the refractive power of the eye. This technique, known as orthokeratology, required that the lenses be fitted and then changed progressively until vision becomes normal or nearly normal. Advocates of orthokeratology claimed that corneal changes could be induced in a predictable fashion, were often permanent, and occurred without causing any adverse effects to the cornea. Data on orthokeratology were generally limited, poorly documented, and did not address the issues of control or failure.

The Berkeley Orthokeratology Study was a single center randomized, concurrently controlled, masked clinical trial. Corneal and visual changes in an orthokeratology treatment group were monitored and compared with those observed in a control group whose members wore contact lenses fitted in a standard clinical manner. Visual and ocular characteristics were monitored for 1.5 years.

Eighty subjects were studied-40 in an orthokeratology group and 40 in a control group fitted with conventional hard contact lenses. The hard lenses chosen for this study were made of either polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or a PMMA-silicone combination (Polycon). All subjects were initially fitted with PMMA lenses.

The initial treatment and control lenses were selected according to protocol guidelines and then adjusted to achieve an "optimal fit" based on lens position, movement, and alignment as assessed by fluorescein study. At the outset, the treatment and control lenses differed in that the treatment lenses were on the average thicker and flatter and had a larger diameter.

Following the dispensing visit, subjects progressed through three study phases. In the adaption phase (Phase A), subjects were examined weekly until they were adapted to 12 to 14 hours of daily contact lens wear. The postadaptive phase (Phase B) consisted of monthly followup examinations for 1 year. The final phase (Phase C) consisted of a lens withdrawal segment and a postwearing segment.