[Cell density and hexagonality of lens epithelium in human cataracts]

One hundred and ninety flat preparations of human lens epithelium attached to the anterior capsule, obtained during surgical extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE), were studied. The median cell density of all preparations was 4,701 cells/sqmm. The lens epithelium of the patients exceeding 50 years of age showed lower density than that of younger patients (p less than 0.05). The epithelium of females showed a higher density than that of male patients. With increasing maturity of cataracts, the cell density decreased (p less than 0.05). Moreover the cell density of DM patients was significantly lower than that of non-DM patients (p less than 0.05). This result may be explained by the sorbitol pathway theory. There were no significant differences among any cases in term of hexagonality.