Phacolytic glaucoma: a rare glaucoma case

¹Université Mohammed V de Rabat, Hôpital des Spécialités de Rabat, CHU Ibn Sina, Rabat, Maroc

^&Corresponding author
Ibrahim Boumehdi, Université Mohammed V de Rabat, Hôpital des Spécialités de Rabat, CHU Ibn Sina, Rabat, Maroc

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A 70-year-old male with no known medical history presented to our hospital with severe pain in his left eye for one week. The best-corrected visual acuity was light perception. Slit-lamp examination of the left eye revealed diffuse corneal edema with major inflammation of the anterior segment. We can see some lens matter in the anterior chamber associated with an advanced white cataract. The intraocular pressure was 70 mmHg by applanation tonometry. Slit-lamp examination of the right eye was unremarkable. Phacolytic glaucoma is caused by an inflammatory process caused by the leakage of lens material through the capsule of a mature cataract. Local and general steroids and hypotonic treatments were given to reduce anterior chamber inflammation and intraocular pressure. The patient underwent extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation. Two weeks later, the best corrected visual acuity was 5/10 with normal ocular pressure and a quiet anterior chamber.

Figure 1: A) corneal edema, with some lens pieces in the anterior chamber; B) lens after extracapsular cataract extraction