A sixty-year-old female presented for a routine eye checkup. Her best corrected visual acuity was 6/6 in both eyes. Slitlamp examination after pupillary dilatation displayed vividmulti-coloured glistening opacities in the otherwise clear lensof her left eye (Fig. 1A). A magnified view using direct focalillumination revealed a spectacular array of polychromaticneedle shaped crystals traversing all directions and cuttingacross the natural limits of the lens fibres, located in the deepcortex and anterior nucleus of the lens, giving the appearance of coloured lights decorating the branches as on aChristmas tree (Fig. 1B). The colours of the crystals variedaccording to the angle of the incident light. In retroillumination only a dim outline of the cataract was seen. The right eyeexamination was unremarkable. The patient had no othernotable ocular or systemic abnormality. A diagnosis ofuniocular ‘‘Christmas tree’’ cataract was made. In view ofthe excellent visual acuity, the patient was advised regularfollow-up.
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