Sonographic Changes of the Lens in Traumatic Cataract

Background/Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sonographic changes of the lens that present with traumatic cataract in correlation with the age of injury. Materials/methods: In this cross sectional study, 38 consecutively selected patients with traumatic cataract, referred to a radiology clinic were assessed by sonography. Other causes of cataract were excluded. Sonography was performed by one radiologist (M.A.K.) using ultrasound units with a 12 MHz linear transducer, and a 10-MHz mechanical sector transducer. Results: All patients except one showed abnormal sonographic changes. Some lenses showed more than one sonographic abnormality amounting to a total of 68 abnormal findings. Setting a period of 3 months as the cut-off point, sonographic findings could be divided into the early and late onset changes. Echogenic surface, and multiple scattered fine echoes were among the early textural change seen early after traumatic cataract. Echogenic subcapsular area, echogenic cortex, and totally echogenic lens with or without structural changes were more frequent in chronic cataracts. Conclusion: Sonographically observed changes that occur in the lens following traumatic cataract may bear some relation to those seen in senile cataract. It remains to be determined whether and how far the physico-chemical and structural changes, and hence the sonographic features of senile cataract share similar evolutionary patterns as compared with traumatic cataract. The presence of diffuse subtle echoes could be used as an indirect sign of lens rupture when the rupture site is still obscured.