A 75-year-old man presents with a dense white cataract. Slit-lamp examination shows a brownish nucleus freely mobile within a bag of liquefied milky cortex, sinking inferiorly on changing head posture. What is this stage of senile cataract called?
- A Nuclear sclerosis grade IV
- B Posterior subcapsular cataract
- C Morgagnian hypermature cataract ✓
- D Intumescent immature cataract
Correct answer: C. Morgagnian hypermature cataract
Explanation
In a Morgagnian cataract, continued hydration of the mature lens causes total liquefaction of the cortex; the denser brown nucleus sinks to the bottom of the capsular bag and is gravity dependent. An intumescent cataract is swollen and hydrated but the cortex is not fully liquefied, and nuclear sclerosis shows a hardened nucleus without cortical liquefaction.
Reference: Parsons' Diseases of the Eye, 23rd ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.