Phenylketonuria does not cause cataracts.
In a study of 46 adults aged 28-71 years with untreated phenylketonuria (PKU) there were 3 (6.5%) with cataracts. This incidence was similar to that in the Australian population and in a control series of intellectually disabled adults. Only two of the PKU patients with cataracts could be examined by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and in both the findings suggested that the prolonged use of phenothiazines may have played a role. Slit-lamp examination of a further ten untreated PKU patients and 13 PKU adults who had been treated in childhood revealed only small lens opacities (in 40%) of a type found in 72.7% of a control group. The study provides no support for claims that PKU can cause cataracts.
Murdoch Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia.
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Pitt
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O'Day
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010661:Phenylketonurias / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence