Lenticular neovascularization subsequent to traumatic cataract formation.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To report a series of cases involving neovascularization within the human crystalline lens-a normally avascular structure-after ocular trauma. This is a retrospective, consecutive observational case series with review of the prevailing literature. METHODS: Four individuals with a history of ocular trauma and subsequent cataract development were examined between May 2004 and April 2007. All had hypermature cataracts and intraocular inflammation, presumably secondary to phacolysis; two of the four had concurrent hyphema and ocular hypertension in the involved eye. RESULTS: All subjects in this series were found to display a discrete network of blood vessels within the structure of the crystalline lens, just beneath the anterior lens capsule. CONCLUSIONS: Neovascularization of the crystalline lens has received little attention in the ophthalmic literature, having been described only rarely in individual case reports. This manuscript details the first known case series involving lenticular neovascularization, and offers insight into its possible developmental mechanism.