Doctors find in OP for decades in the eyelid encapsulated contact lens

Woman lives for 28 years with a rigid contact lens under the eyelid

Recently, Scottish doctors reported a bizarre case. A woman came to the hospital with a swollen eye and a sunken eyelid. The reasons for this were initially completely unclear. In an MRI scan, the doctors found a cyst below the left upper lid filled with proteinaceous contents. When the doctors surgically removed the cyst, a 28-year-old rigid contact lens appeared that the patient believed was lost for a long time.

A contact lens was found again after 28 years - embedded in the eyelid of a patient. This is reported by Scottish doctors at the NHS Tayside Hospital and the University of Dundee in a patient report recently published in the journal "BMJ Case Reports".

Whimsical: The contact lens of a Briton slipped under the eyelid and remained there unnoticed for decades. Doctors remove the cyst-encapsulated lens after 28 years. (Image: Africa Studio / fotolia.com)

When Badminton play lost

English media reports how the 42-year-old Briton played badminton 28 years earlier as a girl. She got a shuttlecock in the eye, whereupon her contact lens was no longer in place. Even after a long search, the lens could not be found again. The former contact lens wearer thought she had lost her lens. Instead, the rigid contact lens slides unnoticed under her eyelid, where she stayed unnoticed for a full 28 years.

Unnoticed for a long time

The badminton match was soon forgotten as well as the supposedly lost lens. For over 27 years the woman lived unnoticed with the blind passenger in the eye. But then a roughly pea-sized nodule began to grow under the patient's left eyebrow over a period of about six months. At first, there was an eye swelling, which became increasingly painful to the touch. Then the eyelid began to sink more and more.

Who is looking for finds - sometime

The doctors were initially unable to detect any cause and performed an MRI scan. They found a filled cyst that had formed under the eyelid. This had to be removed surgically. When the surgeons cut open the cyst, the contact lens that had been thought to have been lost 28 years ago came to rest under the eyelid. The lens had initially nourished under the eyelid for 28 years, symptom-free.

The mother of the patient remembers

The surgeons are surprised to report that the lens was still completely intact when it was removed from the cyst. She seemed to have been perfectly encapsulated by the tissue, which kept her well preserved. The 42-year-old Briton initially reacted completely confused, because she had already forgotten the incident and since the accident no longer worn contact lenses. Only her mother remembered the eye-catching badminton.

Rare incident

The Scottish doctors have no explanation why the lens did not cause any discomfort for a long time and then it suddenly came to symptoms. Normally slipped contact lenses cause sharp or scratchy pain and itchy eyes. Furthermore, sufferers often report a foreign body sensation in the eye. In addition, there is often increased photosensitivity and redness in the eye. As the doctors report, such an encapsulation is very rare to observe. There would only be a handful of cases describing that.

Another bizarre eye case

This is the second extraordinary eye case reported in the UK in recent months. Last year, doctors found a 27-year-old Briton with 27 soft contact lenses in his right eye. The older lady complained of diminished eyesight in the right eye. In examinations, the doctors then found a group of 17 contact lenses and later one with 10 lenses. The patient believed she had lost her lenses and was constantly eyeing new lenses. The case was also reported in the journal "BMJ Case Reports". (Vb)