Sudden bilateral visual loss in a diabetic man

This is a report of a case of the development of acute bilateral cataracts in a diabetic patient. A 28-year-old man presented to the emergency room with a 4-day history of acutely diminished vision. The patient had a recent history of hyperglycemia. On examination, vision was noted to be count-fingers bilaterally; both lenses were intumescent with dense cortical opacities. After 4 weeks, the cataracts had not resolved and cataract extraction surgery was performed, with improvement of the patient's vision. A review of the mechanism of this infrequent presentation of cataract is presented.