27 Contact Lenses Removed From Woman's Eye

27 contact lenses were removed from the eye of a woman who was preparing to have cataract surgery, stunning doctors.

London's Daily Mail reported that the incident happened last November and an article about it was published recently in the British Medical Journal.

The 67-year-old patient told medics she was unaware of the accumulation and believed the discomfort she was feeling had to do to "her old age," Britain's Optometry Today reported.

The woman, who had used disposable contact lenses for the past 35 years, had not had routine optometrist examines in the past.

An operating team at Solihull Hospital, near Birmingham, England, discovered "a blueish mass" of 17 contact lenses clumped together while preparing for the cataract surgery. When doctors took a second look, they found 10 more individual contact lenses.

"None of us have ever seen this before," Rupal Morjaria, a specialist trainee ophthalmologist at Solihull Hospital, told 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 American Optometric Association website said improperly used contact lenses could cause corneal abrasions, corneal edema, corneal ulcers or eye infections, which all could led to medical or surgical treatment.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology said Keratitis is the most common infection from wearing contact lenses, when the cornea — the clear, front window of the eye — becomes infected.

The Solihull Hospital patient, though, did not report any symptoms linked to the lodged contact lenses in her pre-operative assessment, Morjaria told Optometry Today.

"She was quite shocked," said Morjaria. "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."

The patient's cataract surgery was postponed due to an increased risk of endophthalmitis.

"In this day and age, when it is so easy to purchase contact lenses online, people become lax about having regular check-ups," Morjaria told Optometry Today. "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."

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