While prepping a
67-year-old female patient for routine cataract surgery at England’s Solihull
Hospital, physicians noticed a strange bluish blob in one of her eyes.
On closer look, the blob turned out to be 17 contact lenses stuck together.
Another 10 lenses were subsequently discovered in the same eye. The surgeons
have never seen anything quite like it.
As reported in the British Medical Journal, the unnamed
patient was unaware that the contact lenses were missing. Incredibly, the 27
lost lenses, which had drifted behind her upper eyelid, weren’t causing her any
serious distress. She figured her dry eyes and periodic discomfort were just a
product of old age.
“None of us have ever
seen this before,” noted surgeon Rupal Marjaria, who filed
the BMJ report, in Optometry Today. “It was such a large
mass. All the 17 contact lenses were stuck together. We were really surprised
that the patient didn’t notice it because it would cause quite a lot of
irritation while it was sitting there.”
The Solihull Hospital
surgical team decided to postpone the cataract surgery due to the increased
risk of endophthalmitis inflammation of the inner eye. This condition can lead
to vision loss and even loss of the eye itself, and is a common complication of
cataract surgeries. The surgeons were concerned that a build-up of bacteria in
the clump might trigger it.
The patient had been
using monthly disposable contact lenses for about 35 years, but hadn’t visited
her optometrist in quite some time. What’s more, she didn’t mention any
symptoms during her pre-operative assessment. Marjaria thought it important to
write a case report about the incident, showing that it’s possible for a person
to retain lots of contact lenses without experiencing too much discomfort.
“She was quite shocked,”
Marjaria told Optometry Today. “When she was seen two
weeks after I removed the lenses she said her eyes felt a lot more comfortable.
She thought her previous discomfort was just part of old age and dry eye.”
This case is obviously
extreme; most people experience significant discomfort and redness, as well as
an increased risk for infections, when contacts get stuck in their eyes. It’s
not immediately obvious why this patient was so asymptomatic, but it may have
had something to do with her “deep set eyes,” according to the BMJ report.
Wearers of contact lenses
know how frustrating and unsettling it can be to displace a lens. Here’s
how you get a contact lens out from the top of your eye, according to the
American Academy of Ophthalmology:
Surgeons have removed 27 contact lenses from the eye
of a 67-year-old woman who had come to Solihull Hospital for routine cataract
surgery.
"A bluish foreign body" turned out to be a
"hard mass" of 17 lenses stuck together with mucus, and 10 more were
then found under further examination. A report in the BMJ said
she had worn disposable lenses for 35 years, and had not complained of any
irritation. But after they were removed, she said her eyes felt a lot more
comfortable.
'Shocked'
Specialist trainee in ophthalmology Rupal Morjaria
told Optometry Today: "None of us have ever seen this
before. "It was such a large mass. All the 17 contact lenses were
stuck together.
"We were really surprised that the patient didn't
notice it because it would cause quite a lot of irritation while it was sitting
there."She was quite shocked. She thought her previous discomfort was just
part of old age and dry eye."
'Hiding'
The case report said the patient had poorer vision in
her right eye and deep-set eyes, which may have been a factor in the lenses
becoming lost.
Association of Optometrists spokeswoman Ceri
Smith-Jaynes said losing contact lenses in the eye was a common problem but they
usually worked their way out. "They are normally hiding, folded up
under the top lid of the eye," she said.
"They can't go any further up than that because
there is a pocket. "It's the same under the bottom lid - the lens can
only be in one of those places."
Top tips for contact lens
wearers:
·
Don't wear your lenses
for longer than you have been told to, and not for more than 16 hours in a day - you should
never sleep in them
·
Wash and dry your hands
before putting anything in your eye
·
Never apply eye make-up
before putting in contact lenses
·
Replace your contact lens
case regularly to reduce the risk of infection
·
If you spot any signs of
redness, pain or loss of vision, consult your optometrist or optician immediately
·
Make sure you go for
regular check-ups
·
If in doubt, take them
out
The first step is to be sure the contact lens is still
on the eye. The contact lens can fall out of the eye and it may be assumed that
it has merely moved under the eyelid. It is important to note also that the
contact lens can only go as far as the crease in the conjunctiva under the
upper eyelids and it cannot go behind your eye.
To remove the lens you
should first wash your hand carefully and relax the eyelid and see if you can
feel the lens through the eyelid. It may help to apply some sterile saline or
artificial tears to help float the contact lens out from under the eyelid. If a
corner of the lens can be visualized in a mirror you can use a finger to slide
it back down over the cornea where it can be removed normally.
If the lens is suspected
to be under the upper eyelid, it may also help to bring the lens in to view by
looking downward as far as possible. Another technique is to gently massage
through the eyelid down towards the cornea or you can try to lift or “flip” the
eyelid to make the lens visible. Lastly, if you cannot retrieve the lens or if
the eye is bothersome, you should call and schedule an appointment to see your
ophthalmologist as soon as possible.
The last sentence is the critical one. If at any point
you feel this is beyond your abilities, just go see your eye doctor. As this
bizarre case study shows, don’t just leave it in there.
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