United Kingdom

More Than 2 Dozen Contact Lenses Removed From Woman's Eye

The patient had chalked it up to old age and dry eye, one of the doctors said

Doctors in England made a shocking discovery during a routine eye surgery, removing more than two dozen contact lenses from a woman’s eye.

The 67-year-old patient, who had worn monthly contact lenses for 35 years, was going for cataract surgery, according to a report by British Medical Journal.

Rupal Morjaria, a specialist trainee in ophthalmology who worked on the patient, said the three doctors who retreived the contacts were "very surprised and have never seen so many lenses found hidden in the eye."

As doctors prepared for the surgery, they found 17 lenses clumped together, bound by mucus. A surgeon later found 10 more contact lenses during a microscopic examination, according to the report.

Morjaria said  "large mass" would have caused quite a lot of irritation.

"She was quite shocked," Morjaria, a co-author on the report, told Optometry Today. "When she was seen two weeks after I removed the lenses she said her eyes felt a lot more comfortable."

The patient had chalked it up to old age and dry eye, Morjaria said.

"Nowadays, contact lenses are more readily available via other means and people may be neglecting to have regular check ups," Morjaria said. "This case highlights how important it is."

Overusing contact lenses can cause sight-threatening complications, she warned.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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