This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Cataracts/ Lens  • Alert me on articles by topic

Robert C. Drews, MD

Arch Ophthalmol. 2006;124:579-586.

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).

Author Affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo.