Subcapsular fluid entrapment in extracapsular cataract surgery.

We report five cases of sudden shallowing of the anterior chamber associated with irrigation under the iris. We suspect that irrigation in this context forces fluids through the zonules into the posterior chamber, where it becomes trapped, causing anterior chamber shallowing. In our cases, this phenomenon was most commonly associated with irrigation during cortex removal in cases in which the cornea was open (associated with corneal transplantation) and with zonular dehiscence.