Transient Cataracts and Hyperosmolar Coma in a Pediatric Patient

Abstract

Hyperosmolar coma heralding diabetes mellitus has been reported in at least a dozen pediatric patients1–6 since initial recognition of the phenomenon in 1957.7 We recently treated a child with this entity. The patient developed transient cataracts during the acute episode. He demonstrated a favorable clinical response in the face of profound laboratory and clinical abnormalities, with complete resolution of the cataracts. Few cases of evanescent cataracts have been reported in children with diabetic ketoacidosis.8 To our knowledge this is the first report of this finding in a patient with hyperosmolar coma.