A 33-year-old Chinese woman, identified as Ms. A, was stunned when doctors discovered five lost contact lenses hidden behind her left eye. The unexpected event occurred while she was undergoing treatment for hemifacial atrophy at the Plastic Surgery Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing.
Ms. A initially sought medical attention to correct facial asymmetry caused by her condition, Doctors planned to perform autologous fat grafting to restore balance to her face.
However, during the procedure, they uncovered multiple contact lenses lodged in the space behind her eyeball, shocking both the patient and the medical team.
For months, Ms. A had assumed that she had accidentally lost her contact lenses, little did she know that they had been trapped within the deep folds of her eye, Hemifacial atrophy, which causes the fatty tissue around the eye to shrink, had created enough space for the lenses to slide behind her eyeball unnoticed.
Doctors only discovered them when they injected fat behind her eye, which pushed the lenses out, despite wearing contacts for years, she had never experienced any discomfort or symptoms, making this case even more astonishing.
More: Man Fined $4000 After Forging Grandparent’s Death Certificate to Get Time Off from Work
The medical team confirmed that this was the first recorded case of multiple contact lenses being hidden inside the conjunctiva. Experts noted that while Ms. A did not suffer any complications, prolonged presence of foreign objects in the eye could lead to severe risks, including corneal damage and microbial infections.
“Fortunately, in Ms. A’s case, no harm was caused by the contact lenses,” the doctors reported. “But if they had remained undetected for a longer period, she could have developed serious eye conditions.”
This case has sparked widespread discussion among ophthalmologists and medical professionals, highlighting the importance of thorough eye examinations, especially for patients with conditions like hemifacial atrophy.
The medical team emphasized that plastic surgeons should conduct detailed ocular assessments before performing similar procedures.
