title: Green cataract.
abstract: The green cataract seen in the 16th to 18th centuries was reinterpreted in the 19th century (on the basis of pathological examinations) to be a greenish color of the light returning through the pupil in an eye with absolute glaucoma and not due to a greenish discoloration of a cataract. Were the older observers in error? It seems unlikely. This article presents photographs of true green cataracts--ie, opaque lenses of greenish color--from my own practice; a published photograph of a green cataract; and histopathological documentation of the cause, iron (blood pigment).
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63130, USA. rcdrewsmd@prodigy.net
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Drews
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002386:Cataract / Q000266:history / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000266:history / Q000473:pathology; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014823:Vitreous Hemorrhage / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins