[Restoration of a reasonably clear lens after perforating injury]

Experimental research demonstrated that a concentrate of human fibrinogen could successfully be used to close wounds of the lens capsule with sufficient mechanical strength and barrier function. Progression of lens opacification was stopped, and healing took place with a circumscribed scar and an otherwise clear lens. This method has now been employed successfully for the first time in clinical practice: A construction worker presented with a steel foreign body in his eye which had caused a double perforation of the lens. Thirty hours after the accident the gaping lens capsule wound showed no tendency for spontaneous closure. Following closure of this capsule wound with fibrinogen glue the extensive subcapsular posterior rosette opacities regressed markedly and visual acuity improved from 0.1 to 0.7. The same technique was applied more recently in a 13-year-old boy suffering from a double perforation of the lens. Up to the time of writing (eighth postoperative day) the course was as favorable as in the case described above.