London: An Indian-origin eye specialist in the UK has found 27 contact lenses stuck in the eye of a 67-year-old woman who was due to have a cataract surgery.

Rupal Morjaria, a trainee ophthalmologist at Solihull Hospital near Birmingham, found 17 lenses first and then noticed 10 others in the woman's eye. "None of us have ever seen this before. It was such a large mass. All the 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," she told 'Optometry Today' publication. The lenses, which resembled a "blueish mass" in the patient's eye, were causing the woman discomfort that she simply attributed to dry eye and old age.

Some of the 27 contact lenses that were removed from the eye of a 67-year-old woman.

The woman was due to have cataract surgery, but it was postponed after the discovery as the risk of developing endophthalmitis, inflammation of the interior of the eye, was increased. She had been wearing monthly disposable lenses for 35 years but had neither reported any problems nor had regular optometrist appointments. "She was quite shocked. When she was seen two weeks after I removed the lenses she said her eyes felt a lot more comfortable," Morjaria said.

"In this day and age, when it is so easy to purchase contact lenses online, people become lax about having regular check ups," she said. "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," Morjaria added. The case took place in November last year but has come to light in the 'British Medical Journal' only this week.

The woman did not report any symptoms in an assessment prior to surgery.