Traumatic aniridia in a pseudophakic patient 6 years following surgery

Abstract

Purpose: To report a case of aniridia in a pseudophakic patient following blunt trauma to the eye.

Case report: The traumatized eye had cataract surgery through a 3.0 mm clear corneal incision 6 years prior to the incident. While there have been previous cases of traumatic aniridia in pseudophakic eyes, previous reports have all occurred closer to the time of the cataract surgery. We believe that the most likely mechanism of loss of iris tissue is through wound dehiscence, which would suggest the relative instability of clear corneal incisions several years postoperatively. The patient's visual acuity returned to 20/20 4 weeks post-trauma, with symptoms of glare which were managed by the use of a colored contact lens.

Conclusion: The possibility of wound dehiscence should be recognized as an important clinical entity in the immediate postoperative period, but also several years following cataract surgery.

Keywords: anirida; cataract; cataract extraction; phacoemulsification; pseudophakia; trauma.

Figure 1

Posterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) of the left eye revealing an epiretinal membrane.

Figure 1

Posterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) of the left eye revealing an epiretinal membrane.

Figure 2

Slit lamp photograph of the left eye.