Purpose: To report a case of an upper eyelid mass induced by a rigid contact lens retained for more than 3 years in the eye of a patient with a general history of keloids and to provide a review of the literature on retained contact lenses.
Methods: Case report.
Results: A 45-year-old woman with an ophthalmologic history of dry eyes and follicular chronic conjunctivitis presented at our department complaining of irritation, mucous discharge, and contact lens intolerance in her left eye. The ophthalmic examination revealed a visual acuity of 20/20 in both eyes and bilateral blepharitis. A pseudoptosis and an impressive mass growing from the superior tarsal conjunctiva with a lot of mucous discharge were present in the left eye. After a delay of 3.5 years with persisting complaints, a double lid eversion revealed the presence of a hard contact lens retained in the deep fornix of the left eye. After removing the lens and a short period of treatment with local corticosteroids, the mass and the symptoms disappeared.
Conclusions: In patients who wear or wore contact lenses and present with one-sided chronic irritation and tissue proliferation, the possibility of a retained contact lens should be considered. The previous history of dry eyes and chronic conjunctivitis led us to miss the diagnosis at the first visits, despite persisting complaints. No other cases about the effects of a retained contact lens in a patient with keloids have been previously reported.