Diagnosis and surgical management of phacoanaphylactic uveitis following extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation

One year after a successful extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber lens implantation of a Cilco Kratz modified J-loop lens, the patient, a 79-year-old white female, developed a severe granulomatous uveitis unresponsive to topical or systemic steroid therapy. All usual uveitis tests were negative, and no evidence of masquerade-syndrome-type uveitis was found. The possibility of lens-induced uveitis was considered. A B-scan ultrasound revealed high density echoes in the superotemporal portion of the capsular bag, and an operative procedure consisting of a sector iridectomy, removal of the implant, removal of white cortical material in the capsular bag as well as residual lens capsule, and an anterior vitrectomy was done. Pathologic examination of the specimens revealed lens material engulfed by large macrophages, foam cells, and plasma cells. The patient's uveitis rapidly subsided. She is now off all medication and has normal aphakic vision. The differential diagnosis, surgical management, and implications of this problem are discussed.