Post-traumatic lens absorption with an intact lens capsule
Main Article Content
Abstract
A 29-year-old male presented with longstanding, stable, unilateral vision loss in the setting of a remote paintball injury. His exam was notable for a large sensory exotropia as well as multiple foci of posterior synechiae, segments of white lenticular material and islands of lenticular cells within a grossly intact capsule, and severe zonular compromise in the affected eye. The patient was diagnosed with post-traumatic lens absorption and underwent synechialysis, capsulotomy, excision of remnant lenticular material, and placement of a sulcus lens. Our report uniquely highlights the identification of a Soemmering’s ring in an absorbed lens in the presence of an intact anterior capsule. Furthermore, it highlights a successful refractive and sensorimotor outcome following surgical repair despite delay in treatment for many years.
Downloads
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Canavan YM, Archer DB. Anterior segment consequences of blunt ocular injury. Br J Ophthalmol 1982;66:549-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.66.9.549
Marcus DM, Topping TM, Frederick AR. Vitreoretinal management of traumatic dislocation of the crystalline lens. Int Ophthalmol Clin 1995;35:139-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00004397-199503510-00015
Georgalas I, Tservakis I, Papaconstantinou D, Ladas I, Karagiannis D, Koutsandrea C. Posterior capsular rupture, lens dislocation and absorption after blunt trauma. Clin Exp Optom 2011;94:233-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1444-0938.2010.00531.x
Law FW. Moorfields Eye Hospital, 1925-1940. Surv Ophthalmol 1975;20:59-69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-6257(75)90039-9
Saunders JC. On the congenital cataract: a treatise on some practical points relating to the diseases of the eye. London; 1811:131-9.
Marlow SB. Spontaneous absorption of cataract. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc 1952;50:283-93.
Rathinam SR, Namperumalsamy P, Cunningham ET. Spontaneous cataract absorption in patients with leptospiral uveitis. Br J Ophthalmol 2000;84:1135-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.84.10.1135
Boger WP, Petersen RA, Robb RM. Spontaneous absorption of the lens in the congenital rubella syndrome. Arch Ophthalmol 1981;99:433-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archopht.1981.03930010435007
Sato M, Terasaki H, Amano E, Okamoto Y, Miyake Y. Ultrasound biomicroscopic findings in hallerman-streiff syndrome. Jpn J Ophthalmol 2002;46:451-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-5155(02)00530-0
Drechsler J, Wei L, Mohammed T, Levin MR, Alexander JL. Spontaneous absorption of congenital cataract in trisomy 21. J AAPOS 2021;25:312-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2021.05.015
Zhang YT, Du LQ, Liu M, Zhu J. Spontaneous resolution of a traumatic cataract in a patient with an open-globe ocular injury: a case report. BMC Ophthalmol 2020;20:285. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-020-01555-1
Fyodorov SN, Egorova EV, Zubareva LN. 1004 cases of traumatic cataract surgery with implantation of an intraocular lens. J Am Intraocul Implant Soc 1981;7:147-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-2776(81)80063-8
Brini A, Porte A, Stoeckel ME. Resorption of necrotic lens material by a newly formed lens capsule in certain types of cataract. Nature 1963;200:796-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/200796a0
Bin Mohammad Salmi MS, Mahmud MB, Razali AB, Md Salleh RB. Soemmering’s ring in a spontaneous partially absorbed lens: a case report. Cureus 2022;14:e25898. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.25898
Zvorničanin J, Zvorničanin E. Idiopathic spontaneous cataractous lens absorption. Eur J Ophthalmol 2022;32:NP292-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1120672119894890
Dohvoma VA, Ebana Mvogo SR, Atipo-Tsiba PW, et al. Partially absorbed cataractous lens in the anterior chamber revealing neglected severe ocular contusion: a case report. BMC Ophthalmol 2017;17:200. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-017-0594-0