Bilateral congenital cataract. A case report

Abstract

Congenital cataracts can occur in newborns for several reasons, including hereditary tendencies, infection, metabolic problems, diabetes, trauma, inflammation, or reactions to medications; children who suffer from them are born with an opaque lens that prevents vision. Most congenital cataracts are idiopathic, although they may also be linked to systemic, metabolic, or ocular diseases, trauma, maternal infections from the TORCH group and syphilis, or be inherited in isolation without other diseases. We present a case born in the Neonatology Service of the General Hospital of Luanda-Angola with opacity of the lens in both eyes caused by a history of rubella in the mother during the first trimester of pregnancy. This is a male newborn born to a 23-year-old mother with 3 previous pregnancies, without prenatal check-ups, with a history of having suffered from rubella at 8 weeks of gestation, eutocic delivery, cephalic, weighing 3500 grams, Apgar score 8-9, who on physical examination at birth showed bilateral lens opacity, without other associated congenital malformations. After being evaluated by neonatologists, pediatricians, geneticists, and ophthalmologists, the newborn's condition was diagnosed as a rare bilateral congenital cataract; surgery was decided at 6 months of age and satisfactory results were obtained.