Anterior lenticonus and the Waardenburg syndrome.

Anterior lenticonus is a rare condition in which there is a conical forward protrusion of the axial portion of the anterior capsule of the lens and anterior cortex which usually remains clear. The nucleus is not involved, indicating that the anomaly develops relatively late. Males are more commonly affected than females and in most cases both eyes are involved. Some of the cases reported in the literature are associated with Alport's syndrome, which comprises hereditary chronic progressive nephritis and perceptive deafness and is usually transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait (Arnott, Crawfurd, and Toghill, I966). In the patient reported below bilateral anterior lenticonus is associated with the Waardenburg syndrome, a feature of which is hereditary perceptive deafness, and which also has an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. According to Duke-Elder (i 964) some cases may occur sporadically.