A Case of a Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Contact Lens Found as a Foreign Body under the Upper Tarsal Conjunctiva

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To report a case of removing a rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lens that was found under the upper tarsal conjunctiva after five or more years. CASE SUMMARY: A 60-year-old female patient visited our Department of Ophthalmology due to the irritation of a foreign body sensation in her right eye that had been present for approximately two weeks. The patient started wearing RGP contact lenses 8 years previously. Five years prior, somebody struck her in her right eye, and the patient thought that she lost the RGP lens for her right eye. At that time, she visited the clinic and was diagnosed with corneal erosion, but nothing else in particular. Afterward she continued to visit the clinic 2 to 3 times per year for regular checkup, but nothing notable was found. The best corrected visual acuity and IOP at the initial visit were 0.8 and 27 mm Hg in the right eye and 0.8 and 23 mm Hg in the left eye, respectively. Mild swelling and erythema along the right upper eyelid were identified. As we everted the upper eyelid, a 4 x 4 mm sized, transparent, oval-shaped foreign body with a concave dented center was found. Under the local anesthesia, the foreign body under the upper tarsal conjunctiva was removed and we presumed that the foreign body was the RGP contact lens that had stuck under the conjunctiva due to the incident 5 years prior. After removal, the patient did not express any discomfort and nothing extraordinary was found during the 6 months of follow-up.