Reversible unilateral lens opacities in a diabetic patient

Following one month of poor diabetic control, a 54-year-old patient presented with a unilateral posterior subcapsular cataract, consisting of numerous fine, feathery, streak-like opacities radiating from a dense, round, central, posterior, subcapsular plaque. Except for extensive pseudoexfoliation, the fellow lens was clear. After a subsequent week of strict diabetic control, the feathery streak-like opacities had almost disappeared. The findings are discussed in relation to the experimentally induced sugar cataract in which sugar alcohol accumulation and subsequent lens swelling result in a potentially reversible lens opacification.