[Mykosis of soft contact lenses (author's transl)]

A 63-year-old patient suffering from old sclerokeratitis was fitted with a therapeutic soft contact lens one and a half years after corneal transplantation and half a year after cataract surgery. The patient was on oral and local cortisone treatment. The first three months were uneventful with an aphakic high water content lens worn continuously. This lens was lost and she was given a B-L plano T. One month later the patient was admitted to the hospital with a red eye and a large corneal ulcer. Two white spots were noted on the contact lens. In a frozen section yeast-like structures were seen on the lens that partly invaded the lens material. Fungal culture from the other deposit revealed candida tropicalis and fusarium. The corneal ulcer healed with antimycotic therapy. The possible relationship between cortisone treatment, corneal ulcer and fungal contamination of the lens is discussed.