ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the anatomy and physiology of the lens and the common conditions affecting the function of the lens, including the treatment and management. It discusses the structure of the lens, the anatomy of the lens, composition of the lens, function of the crystalline lens, congenital cataract, familial cataract, age-related cataract, traumatic cataract, toxic cataract, and eye diseases. The chapter also discusses the cataract operations such as phacoemulsification, cool laser, needling or lens aspiration, lensectomy, intracapsular lens extraction, extracapsular lens extraction and aphakia. The lens is a biconvex, transparent, a vascular structure with no nerve supply. It measures 9 mm by 4 mm in diameter and lies behind the iris and in front of the vitreous humour. The lens has an elastic capsule, which enables it to change shape during accommodation. The lens comprises 65" water and 35" protein. In addition, there are trace minerals, the most important being sodium, potassium and calcium.
