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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• Nictitating membrane
• plica semilunaris
• vestigial organ