CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RADIATION CATARACT

Abstract

RECENT interest in the effects of radiation on the eye in general and in the production of radiation cataract in particular makes it timely to inquire what the characteristic findings are in this type of cataract and how pathognomonic they are for radiation. Accordingly, the clinical findings have been reviewed in 20 early cases of radiation cataract which we have seen, and the histologic changes have been studied in cross sections from 27 cases¹ of radiation cataract, representing various stages of cataract formation. CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS The material comprising the clinical study consisted of 7 cases of cataract following exposure to x-rays or gamma-rays, 2 cases of cyclotron-induced cataract, 10 cases of cataract attributed to the ionizing radiations of the atomic bomb in Japan, and 1 case of cataract resulting from an atomic explosion in this country. The findings were remarkably uniform in all cases. On ophthalmoscopic examination the initial