Electric injury may result in cataracts, which usually occur bilaterally. In this report, we present a rare complication of such an injury presenting as a unilateral cataract with optic neuropathy.

A 17-year-old male patient presented with gradual worsening of vision in his right eye 7 weeks after sustaining an injury from 22,900 volts of high-voltage electric current his right hand. On initial eye examination, the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/60 in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. Relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) was noted in the right eye. Slit-lamp examination confirmed the typical anterior subcapsular lenticular opacities and funduscopy showed a slightly pale optic nerve head in the right eye. Pattern reversal visually evoked potential (P-VEP) showed a significant delay of P-100 implicit time in the right eye. After 7 months, phacoaspiration and posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation were performed in the right eye. Postoperatively, the BCVA improved to 20/30 but visual field examination showed a partial defect in the temporal area of the right eye. Cataract did not develop in the left eye during 15 months of follow-up. The electron microscopic findings showed that the number of mitochondria in the cytoplasm increased. The rough endoplasmic reticulum in the cytoplasm and microfilaments were enriched.

Manifestation time of ocular complications after electric injuries is different. Therefore an ophthalmic examination should be performed regularly in the early recovery period of such injuries and in particular, progression of bilateral electric cataract must be checked.