Contact Lens Found Behind Patient's Eye Returns After 28 Years With Stories to Tell

A rigid gas permeable contact lens lost by patient Douglas Albright during a recreational racquetball game in 1998 was discovered Tuesday lodged in the superior fornix of his left eye, where it had apparently resided without incident for twenty-eight years. 'I felt a little something during the lid eversion and thought it was a papillary response,' said Dr. Cornelia Sclera, the examining optometrist. 'Then I saw the edge of an RGP lens. A Boston ES, if I'm not mistaken. They discontinued that material in 2003. This lens is older than most of my staff.' Albright, 61, recalled the original incident clearly. 'I took a racquetball to the face, my lens popped out, and I assumed it was on the court somewhere. My partner and I looked for ten minutes. We did not think to look behind my eye.' The lens, which Dr. Sclera removed using forceps and 'more irrigation than I have used in my entire career combined,' was remarkably intact, though coated in what she described as 'approximately three decades of mucin and protein deposits.' 'From a material science standpoint, this is fascinating,' she said. 'The lens maintained its structural integrity in a warm, moist, protein-rich environment for twenty-eight years. Boston should use this as a marketing case study.' Albright reported no symptoms during the lens's residency. 'No pain, no redness, no foreign body sensation,' he said. 'Which I think says something either very reassuring about human anatomy or very concerning about my sensory awareness.' Dr. Sclera confirmed that the conjunctival tissue had essentially encapsulated the lens in a 'biological pocket,' creating a stable microenvironment that prevented irritation. 'The eye adapted,' she said. 'It basically built a little house for the lens and let it live there. Rent-free. For nearly three decades.' Albright has been fitted with daily disposable soft lenses. He has declined to keep the recovered RGP as a memento.