[Acute total cataract in a 17-year-old woman]

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that has multiple consequences on the eye, particularly the retina but also the lens. However, in diabetic patients, the development of an acute decrease in vision is rarely caused by a cataract and diabetic lens opacities usually appear progressively several years after the diagnosis of diabetes. We present here the case of a young patient who had just been diagnosed with diabetes two months before and who developed an acute total cataract, responsible for a rapid decrease in vision. Then we discuss the possible mechanisms involved in its physiopathology.