Abstract
Purpose:
Posterior subcapsular cataract in patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa are frequently observed and studied for it’s common to appear in the lenses. Occasional a three-generation Chinese family undergoing retinitis pigmentosa was discovered to improve anterior subcapsular cataract as well as posterior subcapsular cataract. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical features in the three generations, especially the anterior subcapsular cataract.
Methods:
Family history was recorded. Detailed examinations were performed. All participated were evaluated by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and ophthalmoscopy. Color photography of anterior segment and fundus were taken.
Results:
Four members from two generations affected by retinitis pigmentosa, who suffered from nyctalopia and visual loss from childhood. Fundus of all the four presented typical RP manifestations of waxy pallor of the optic disk, attenuation of retinal vessels and pigmentary deposits resembling bone spicules. All the four cases showed bilateral posterior subcapsular complicated cataracts with nuclear lens opacity in different extent. Among them, the elder two shows typical bilateral anterior subcapsular cataracts in the center of the pupil area. The rest members of the family showed no symptoms or morphological changes of fundus conformed to retinitis pigmentosa. The lens did not present subcapsular opacity either. One of them had phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation and the visual acuity was rehabitated successfully.
Conclusions:
Complicated anterior subcapsular lens opacity( ASC) appears on the way of retinal degeneration progressing. Cataract surgery proved to ameliorate the visual loss of such patients to date, and interference with ASC formation might be a novel treatment strategy to preserve residual visual acuity in the future.
Keywords: 702 retinitis •
445 cataract •
539 genetics