Spontaneous resolution of a traumatic cataract caused by an intralenticular foreign body

J Cataract Refract Surg. 2008 Jun;34(6):1033-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrs.2008.01.033.

Abstract

A 49-year-old man presented with an intralenticular metal foreign body incurred while he was sawing wood. The metal chard had violated the lens capsule and was lodged in the cortex of the lens. It was removed using a lens-preservation technique during open-globe repair. Subsequently, a dense posterior cortical cataract developed, which spontaneously resolved over the ensuing months. The cataract had a cruciate configuration with wave-like disruption of the stromal lamellae. To our knowledge, this is the first case of spontaneous resolution of a cataract after capsule violation by an intralenticular foreign body. The unique appearance of the cataract and its unusual resolution led to a new theory of lens injury by shockwave.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Cataract / etiology
  • Cataract / physiopathology*
  • Eye Foreign Bodies / complications*
  • Eye Foreign Bodies / surgery
  • Eye Injuries, Penetrating / complications*
  • Eye Injuries, Penetrating / surgery
  • Humans
  • Lens Capsule, Crystalline / injuries
  • Lens Capsule, Crystalline / radiation effects
  • Lens Cortex, Crystalline / injuries*
  • Lens Cortex, Crystalline / radiation effects
  • Male
  • Metals
  • Middle Aged
  • Remission, Spontaneous

Substances

  • Metals