27 contacts in one eye shocking sight for doctor

A brief write-up in the British Medical Journal claims that doctors found 27 contact lenses in a 67-year-old patient’s eye when she was being prepped for surgery at England’s Solihull Hospital.

The piece was authored by Rupal Morjaria, a specialist trainee ophthalmologist, Richard Crombie, a consultant anesthesiologist and Amit Patel, a consultant ophthalmologist.

The lenses were clumped together in a “blueish mass,” according to the journal.

“She was quite shocked,” Morjaria, who worked on the patient, 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, though, wasn’t the only person who was shocked.

“None of us have ever seen this be- fore,” Morjaria said. In fact, she chose to publish the case because most doctors didn’t think it was possible for someone to lose so many contact lenses in their eyes without suffering from severe symptoms.

The patient had worn monthly contact lenses for 35 years, and she rarely visited the eye doctor during those years. But she had cataracts, so last November, doctors were injecting anesthesia into her eyes for surgery when they paused, surprised by the bizarre discovery.

Morjaria hopes that contact lens wearers who see the story will take a little more caution.

“In this day and age, when it is so easy to purchase contact lenses online, people become lax about having regular checkups,” she said. “Contact lenses are used all the time, but if they are not appropriately monitored we see people with serious eye infections that can cause them to lose their sight.”