The long and winding road: contact lens-induced ptosis

Intrapalpebral migration is a rare complication of hard contact lens use. We report a case of a 52-year-old man who presented with right upper eyelid ptosis and requested cosmetic correction. He had no ocular history apart from myopia, which was corrected with the use of hard contact lenses. Prior to the ptosis he recalled losing his right contact lens during a bout of sneezing. He replaced the missing lens and continued to wear contact lenses as usual. After careful clinical examination, an ipsilateral small, mobile eyelid mass was detected, and orbital MRI verified the suspected presence of a hard contact lens. Following surgical removal and ptosis correction, the patient made a full recovery. The phenomenon of hard contact lens migration in the periocular tissues has been reported in the literature before, but most patients experienced symptoms of variable severity. In this patient, however, there were no symptoms to indicate the presence of a contact lens. This case highlights the importance of including intrapalpebral contact lens migration in the differential diagnosis of an eyelid mass or ptosis in patients.