CASE NO 16

Cataract
A 70 years old female visits eye specialist complaining of decreased
vision in the left eye. Examination reveals cloudy/ opaque areas in

the lens.
a. What is the most likely diagnosis?
b. What is the pathophysiology of this disease?
c. How this condition can be corrected?
d. What is nyctalopia?

Answers:
a. The diagnosis is cataract.
b. Cataracts are a common eye abnormality that occurs mainly in older
people. A cataract is a cloudy or opaque area or areas in the lens. In
the early stage of cataract formation, the proteins in some of the lens
fibers become denatured. Later, these same proteins coagulate to form
opaque areas in place of the normal transparent protein fibers. When a
cataract has obscured light transmission so greatly that it seriously
impairs vision.
c. The condition can be corrected by surgical removal of the lens. When
this is done, the eye loses a large portion of its refractive power, which
must be replaced by a powerful convex lens in front of the eye, usually;
however, an artificial plastic lens is implanted in the eye in place of the
removed lens.
d. Night blindness or nyctalopia: night blindness occurs in any person
with severe vitamin A deficiency. The reason for this is that without
vitamin A, the amounts of retinal and rhodopsin that can be formed are
severely depressed. This condition is called night blindness because
the amount of light available at night is too little to permit adequate
vision in vitamin A deficiency persons. For night blindness to occur, a
person usually must remain on a vitamin A deficient diet for months
because large quantities of vitamin A stored in the liver and can be
made available to the eyes.
Treatment: once night blindness develops, it can sometimes be
reversed in less than 1 hour by intravenous injection of vitamin A.

CASE NO 16

Cataract
A 70 years old female visits eye specialist complaining of decreased
vision in the left eye. Examination reveals cloudy/ opaque areas in

the lens.
e. What is the most likely diagnosis?
f. What is the pathophysiology of this disease?
g. How this condition can be corrected?
h. What is nyctalopia?

Answers:
e. The diagnosis is cataract.
f. Cataracts are a common eye abnormality that occurs mainly in older
people. A cataract is a cloudy or opaque area or areas in the lens. In
the early stage of cataract formation, the proteins in some of the lens
fibers become denatured. Later, these same proteins coagulate to form
opaque areas in place of the normal transparent protein fibers. When a
cataract has obscured light transmission so greatly that it seriously
impairs vision.
g. The condition can be corrected by surgical removal of the lens. When
this is done, the eye loses a large portion of its refractive power, which
must be replaced by a powerful convex lens in front of the eye, usually;
however, an artificial plastic lens is implanted in the eye in place of the
removed lens.
h. Night blindness or nyctalopia: night blindness occurs in any person
with severe vitamin A deficiency. The reason for this is that without
vitamin A, the amounts of retinal and rhodopsin that can be formed are
severely depressed. This condition is called night blindness because
the amount of light available at night is too little to permit adequate
vision in vitamin A deficiency persons. For night blindness to occur, a
person usually must remain on a vitamin A deficient diet for months
because large quantities of vitamin A stored in the liver and can be
made available to the eyes.
Treatment: once night blindness develops, it can sometimes be
reversed in less than 1 hour by intravenous injection of vitamin A.