Free floating cyst in anterior chamber after cataract surgery

We describe a free-floating cyst in the anterior chamber after cataract surgery in a 73-year-old woman who underwent uneventful phacoemulsification in her right eye (OD). The best-corrected visual acuity one week after surgery was 20/20 OD; however, six weeks later, she noted the onset of intermittent "shadows" in this eye whenever she changed head position. Slit lamp examination showed a round, free-floating, clear cyst (3-4 mm in diameter) that traversed the central visual axis during eye movement. The cyst was removed through a limbal incision, by expressing it gently out of the eye with viscoelastic injection into the anterior chamber. On pathological examination the inner wall of the cyst was lined with non-keratinized squamous epithelium, typical of ocular surface cells.