Cosmetic coloured contact lenses are worn to give the appearance of a different or unusual eye colour and about 60 000 people in the United Kingdom obtain these types of contact lenses through eye care professionals.¹ A subset of these lenses—those with no optical power (“plano” coloured lenses)—falls outside legislation designed to restrict the sale of contact lenses to suitably qualified professionals. We report a severe case of microbial keratitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa which has resulted in lasting visual impairment in a patient obtaining cosmetic coloured contact lenses from a fashion shop rather than through an eye care practitioner.

CASE REPORT

An 18 year old south Asian male student presented in December 2003 with a 2 day history of a foreign body sensation in his left eye. One day before presentation the eye had become slightly red. He had commenced the use of Brolene eye drops which had been purchased from a large chain supermarket. The eye then became painful with eyelid swelling and he presented to the local district general hospital the following …