Pyramidal anterior polar cataracts.

OBJECTIVE: To document clinical features and subsequent management of pyramidal anterior polar cataracts in children.

DESIGN: Retrospective, noncomparative case series and clinicopathologic correlation.

PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen patients who presented to the pediatric ophthalmology clinic.

INTERVENTION: All patients underwent measurement of visual acuity, assessment of ocular motility, examination of the anterior and posterior segments, and cycloplegic refraction. Amblyopia treatment was instituted when appropriate. When visual impairment occurred from cataract progression or amblyopia or both, cataract removal with or without lens implantation was performed. After surgery, correction of refractive error and treatment of amblyopia were instituted. Several pyramidal opacities were retrieved during cataract extraction and examined by light and electron microscopy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual acuity at initial presentation, size of lens opacity before surgery, amblyopia status, most recent visual acuity after cataract extraction, and histologic examination of lens opacity.

RESULTS: Nine children had bilateral and six had unilateral pyramidal cataracts (24 eyes). There was no discernible inheritance pattern. Patients were followed for 27 months on average. Twenty of 24 eyes developed cortical opacification that extended significantly beyond the base of the pyramidal lesion. Nineteen eyes required cataract surgery: 10 eyes underwent lensectomy with anterior vitrectomy and 9 had extracapsular cataract extraction, 8 of which had insertion of a posterior chamber intraocular lens. Amblyopia was present or developed in all six patients with unilateral cataract and in eight of nine patients with bilateral cataract. Visual acuity in many eyes remained poor despite amblyopia therapy. The pyramidal opacities consisted of hyperplastic lens epithelium, which exhibited a loss of polarity and was surrounded by a collagenous matrix.

CONCLUSIONS: Pyramidal anterior polar cataracts are present at birth and may represent a variant of anterior polar lens opacities. They may be unilateral or, if bilateral, they may be either symmetric or asymmetric. They consist of hyperplastic lens epithelium in a collagenous matrix. Patients with pyramidal cataracts are likely to develop amblyopia. This can result from either unilateral occurrence or asymmetry of bilateral opacities and is often worsened by surrounding cortical opacification. Many patients require cataract surgery. All infants and young children with anterior polar opacities showing this configuration should be followed for cataract progression and amblyopia.