Association of Pigmentary Glaucoma and Nuclear Cataract

Monday, April 28, 2014: 1:26 PM
Room 155 (Boston Convention and Exhibition Center)
Deborah Kim, MD, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
Sameh Mosaed, MD, UC Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
Zina Zhang, MD, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, Irvine, CA, USA

Narrative Responses:

Purpose
To describe a new association between non-senile nuclear cataracts and pigmentary glaucoma in patients with controlled intraocular pressure.

Methods
A consecutive case series of non-senile nuclear cataracts seen in patients with pigmentary glaucoma with controlled intraocular pressure in a single glaucoma specialist practice. Five patients with pigmentary glaucoma and visually significant cataract who underwent cataract removal were reviewed.

Results
Patients with pigmentary glaucoma develop a rapidly progressing non-senile nuclear cataract with a myopic shifts between 5-13D from baseline in less than six months. The patients have controlled intraocular pressure and there were no associations between medication use and cataract development. The dense non-senile nuclear cataract can be seen clinically on retinoscopy. On surgical removal of cataract, there is a dense central nuclear cataract that requires greater phacoemulsification energy at the center of the cataract.

Conclusion
New association seen between patients with pigmentary glaucoma and non-senile nuclear cataracts. In these patients, the intraocular pressure remains controlled and no association is seen between the cataract and medication use. The cataract are rapidly progressive and cause a myopic shift between 5-13D.