Lens and Cataract

Cortical

Cortical Cataract
  • The most common form of senile cataract

Clinical Features

  • Symptoms:
    • Minimal symptoms of decrease in visual acuity
    • Mild to severe glare and night vision difficulties and may impair driving
    • When the lens opacities are in the visual axis, patients may complain of monocular diplopia
  • Signs:
    • The opacities are located in the cortical layer and initially develop in the lower portion of the lens
    • Early stage cortical cataract demonstrates water clefts and vacuoles, which may change over time resulting in irreversible opacities
    • In a more advanced stage, spoke-like or wedge-shaped peripheral opacities progress circumferentially, initially sparing the clear central axis of the lens.