2020–2021 BCSC Basic and Clinical Science Course™
6 Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
Part II: Pediatric Ophthalmology
Chapter 23: Childhood Cataracts and Other Pediatric Lens Disorders
Structural or Positional Lens Abnormalities
Coloboma
A lens coloboma involves flattening or notching of the lens periphery (Fig 23-6). It may be associated with a coloboma of the iris, optic nerve, or retina, all of which are caused by abnormal closure of the embryonic fissure. The term lens coloboma is a misnomer because the lens defect is caused by absence or stretching of the zonular fibers in the affected area (usually inferonasally) and is not directly due to abnormal embryonic fissure closure. In more significant colobomatous defects, lens dislocations may occur superiorly and temporally. Most colobomatous lenses do not progressively worsen.
Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 10 - Glaucoma. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.