Phacolytic glaucoma at a glance

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to report a case of phacolytic glaucoma with a lens-particle pseudohypopyon. This study was case report and literature review. A 66-year-old man with no comorbidities presented with gradual painless loss of vision in his left eye over 10 years. Ocular examination revealed visual acuity of 20/40 and light perception, for the right and left eye, respectively. The left eye slit-lamp examination disclosed extensive cornea guttae without edema or bullae, white fluffy material deposits on pupillary margin, poor mydriasis, hypermature cataract with intact lens capsule, and a mobile white cone-shaped deposit in the anterior chamber representing a lens-particle pseudohypopyon. Intraocular pressure was 32 mmHg. A B-scan ultrasonography was performed and showed increased anterior-posterior longitude due to posterior staphyloma and a large excavation of the optic nerve head. Corneal endothelial cell density was low, 880 cells/mm2. At this point, phacolytic glaucoma due to a hypermature cataract was diagnosed. Hypermature cataracts are commonly seen in developing countries and phacolytic glaucoma is a complication of a long-standing cataract.