Postnatal ophthalmological characteristics in patients with congenital cataract diagnosed by fetal ultrasonography

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the findings of postnatal ophthalmological examinations in patients diagnosed with cataracts by prenatal fetal sonography.

Methods

We retrospectively identified patients diagnosed with fetal cataract without other ocular abnormalities using antenatal ultrasound. We analyzed data including the patients’ family history, the presence of metabolic or systemic disease-associated cataracts, gestational age at diagnosis, fetal sonography reports, and the results of postnatal ophthalmological examinations.

Results

In total, eight patients were diagnosed with cataracts by prenatal fetal ultrasonography, and all these patients showed mild to severe degrees of cataract after birth. Patients showed hyperechoic opacity of the lens in the available images. The mean gestational age at diagnosis was 26 ± 3 weeks (range, 22–28 weeks), and three patients (37.5%) had a family history of congenital cataract. All patients, except one patient who had patent ductus arteriosus, showed no systemic abnormalities associated with cataracts on postnatal evaluation. Six (75.0%) were diagnosed with bilateral cataracts after birth, and of these, two patients had been diagnosed with unilateral left cataract prenatally. Postnatal ophthalmological examination revealed that all patients showed opacities involving the nucleus of the lens and three patients (37.5%) had associated abnormalities of microcornea or microphthalmia, which were not diagnosed antenatally.

Conclusion

In all our subjects, the lens opacities on prenatal fetal sonography were diagnosed postnatally as cataracts involving the nucleus. A careful postnatal examination is essential to detect the presence of associated ocular abnormalities such as microcornea and/or microphthalmia and cataract in the contralateral eye in patients with congenital cataract.

Keywords:

• Cataract
• congenital
• fetal
• neonatal
• sonography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Seoul National University Hospital research grant [23-2016-0080] and the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation [NRF-2015M3A9E6028949].