Persistent unilateral nictitating membrane in a 9-year-old girl: A rare case report

• Main Authors: Mallikarjun Heralgi, Ashok Thallangady, Kavitha Venkatachalam, Hariprasad Vokuda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2017-01-01
• Series: Indian Journal of Ophthalmology
• Subjects: Nictitating membrane; plica semilunaris; vestigial organ
• Online Access: http://www.ijo.in/article.asp?issn=0301-4738;year=2017;volume=65;issue=3;spage=253;epage=255;aulast=Heralgi

We report a case of persisting nictitating membrane in a 9-year-old girl presenting to us with the complaints of fleshy mass in the medial part of the left eye since birth, which was nonprogressive. On examination, her left eye was amblyopic with a vision of 20/500. The membrane was continuous with the medial canthus and was spread in a horizontal fashion, covering the underlying bulbar conjunctiva and one-third of the cornea. The globe however moved freely underneath the membrane, indicating no attachment between the globe and overlying membrane. The patient underwent simple excision of the nictitating membrane with good outcome.