Doctors intending to perform cataract surgery on a 67-year-old woman in London U.K unexpectedly found 17 contact lenses that had been applied on top of each other in her right eye.
In the case report published Monday in the British Medical Journal (the BMJ), the doctors reported that the patient had worn disposable contact lenses (which are supposed to be disposed monthly) for an incredible 35 years; she had "deep set eyes" and poorer vision in that eye, which they said miay have contributed to the failure to remove some of the lenses.
The doctors said the 17 lenses were bound together by mucus.
The Surgeon found another 10 lenses using a microscope. Rupal Morjaria, a specialist trainee in ophthalmology, said the "large mass" would have caused quite a lot of irritation.
The patient had chalked it up to old age and dry eye, Morjaria said.
Image source: beaumontvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/history-contact-lenses.jpg