The pathogenesis of cataract in professional workers exposed to solar radiation in marine environment.

In this article we presented the results on the cataract obtained in patients recruited during a period of two years in the social and labor ophthalmology ambulatory of Sapienza University in Rome. The first of two homogeneous populations (regarding the number of patients, age, profession, constant exposure to sunlight, same living habitat, geographical areas with similar intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors) involved the areas of the gulf of Pozzuoli and the gulf of Olbia, both of which are located at 40.5-41 degrees north latitude on the sea. The first place is located on the European continent and the other one on a medium-large island with particular genetic factors. The second of the two homogeneous populations involved the island of Ischia (NA) and the maritime professional activities carried out in Villasimius (CA) and surroundings, respectively at 40- and 39-degrees north latitude on the sea. The first is a medium-small island and the second one is located on a medium-large island, but both are in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and are characterized by a certain degree of genetic isolation.