Histological comparison of senile posterior subcapsular cortical cataract and experimental posterior subcapsular cortical cataract induced by vincristine sulfate.

The similarity between vincristine sulfate-induced experimental cataract and posterior subcapsular cortical cataract in man is the grossly visible pathological processes of cataracts in the posterior subcapsular cortical region. In histological observations, these processes are described as degeneration and necrosis of the crystalline lens fibers immediately below the anterior capsular epithelial cells, as well as degeneration and necrosis of the cellular nuclei and irregularity of the cellular arrangement in the bow area, and degeneration and vesicle formation of the lens fibers immediately below the posterior capsule. The dissimilarities, on the other hand, are as follows: the posterior subcapsular cortical cataract in man, compared with vincristine salfate-induced cataract, is characterized by less advanced degeneration and atrophy of the anterior capsular epithelial cells and lack of specific changes of their nuclei. In man, cellular stratification was also lacking in the bow area.