Posterior capsular plaque in bilateral congenital cataracts

Abstract

Background: Many cases of unilateral congenital cataract have an associated posterior capsular plaque. Observations such as this have led to the hypothesis that posterior capsular plaque is caused by persistent fetal vasculature, generally a unilateral condition, even if no obvious hyaloid remnant is visible. We investigated the incidence of posterior capsular plaque associated with bilateral congenital cataracts.

Methods: Children with bilateral congenital cataracts were identified from three surgical practices. Children were included if lensectomies were performed prior to age 7 months. Surgical videos were evaluated for cataract morphology.

Results: Fourteen children with bilateral cataracts were identified. Surgical videos were available for 24 eyes. Five eyes (21%) had evidence of persistent hyaloid remnants. Of the remaining 19 eyes, cataracts were categorized as nuclear in 10 cases, nuclear with cortical extension in 6 cases, and posterior cortical in 3 cases. Evidence of posterior capsular plaque was seen in seven cases (37%) on video review.

Conclusions: Video review revealed a much lower incidence of posterior capsular plaque in eyes with bilateral congenital cataracts compared to unilateral congenital cataracts, lending presumptive evidence to the hypothesis that most unilateral lens opacities arise from persistent fetal vasculature.