Epidemiology
Etiology
Acquired cataracts (> 99%)
- Age-related cataract (> 90%)
- As a result of ocular diseases (complicated cataract)
- Drug-induced
- Glucocorticoids (local and systemic)
- Glucocorticoids increase oxidative stress within the lens by reducing antioxidant defenses like glutathione
- Chronic alcohol and tobacco use
- Traumatic (traumatic cataract)
- Eye infections
- Excessive sunlight or UVB exposure
Pathophysiology
Clinical features
- Painless, progressive, bilateral vision loss
- Difficulty with nighttime driving
- Loss of red reflex
- Opacified lens
Diagnostics
- Fundoscopy
- Changes to the red reflex (the reflection of light in the ocular fundus, which is normally red in color), including:
- Opacities (including leukocoria)
- Darkening
- Absent or decreased red reflex
- Slit-lamp examination
- Common: grey, white, yellow, or brownish clouding of the lens (see also “Types of cataracts”)
Treatment