Floral pattern in developmental cataract

An 8-year-old boy presented to an ophthalmology clinic with diminution of vision in both eyes for the past 1 year. His best corrected visual acuity was 6/9 in the right eye and 6/12 in the left eye, not improving further with pinhole. Parents refused noticing any opacity in the lens since birth. There was no significant past history of trauma or systemic illness. Slit lamp biomicroscopy showed bilateral white axial opacities in the form of three distinct quadrangular petals, which closely resembled the flower of a water plant, Baldellia ranunculoides [Figs. 1 and 2].Figure 1: Developmental cataract in right eyeFigure 2: Developmental cataract in left eyeDiscussion While rosette cataract or flower petal cataracts have five distinct petals, with dense opacification at the center, this morphological variant of developmental cataract noted in our patient differed in terms of three petals with a relatively clear center. As the patient was symptomatic, he was planned for lens extraction with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation in the left eye followed by the right eye. Developmental cataract typically affects a zone involving either an infantile or adolescent nucleus or both and sometimes has a cortical component. Different morphologies of developmental cataract include lamellar, coronary, blue dot, sutural, and axial cataracts such as coralliform, floriform, and spear-shaped cataract, of which lamellar cataracts are the most common.[1] Developmental rosette cataracts occur later in life and are usually the result of an injury to the eye.[2,3] It is also possible for them to be caused by certain diseases or conditions, such as diabetes. Some cases of the double rosette type of cataracts without any history of trauma or systemic illness have also been reported.[4,5] However, this unique morphological variant of flower petal cataract with three petals has never been mentioned in the literature. Managing a developmental cataract poses a lot of challenges; nevertheless, irrespective of morphology of cataract, those which are visually disabling and carry the risk of amblyopia need to be surgically treated on time. Declaration of patient consent The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form, the patient(s) has/have given his/her/their consent for his/her/their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed. Financial support and sponsorship: Nil. Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest.