Congenital abnormalities of the lens present wide variations and are relatively common, but individual types of lenticular defects may be rare.
Ida Mann has presented the most complete survey of developmental defects of the lens, and her description of secondary, or apparent, aphakia agrees well with the condition in the present case. The interest lies in the fact that neither eye is abnormal except for the lenticular defect.
. . . The lens is represented solely by a wrinkled capsule, often invaded and partially destroyed by vascular mesoderm, the resulting whitish membranous mass being supported in the pupil by ill-formed zonule fibers. The absorption and partial replacement of the lens by fibrous tissue opens up interesting speculations as to causation. One theory states that the lens develops normally but that its capsule is thinner than normal, and so ruptures, allowing of invasion by mesoblast and subsequent destruction of the lens. It seems more