A strong surge of high voltage electricity passing through the body can kill people. And, in bizarre cases, it can leave them with star-shaped cataracts in their eyes. The latter is what happened to a 42 year old electrician in California. 

In an article published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jan. 23, ophthalmologists from the University of California in San Diego reported the case of an electrician whose left shoulder came in contact with 14,000 volts of electricity. The electric current passed through the man's entire body and his optic nerve, the nerve responsible for transmitting information from the retina of the eye to the brain. One month after the accident, the man sought medical help and reported of blurring vision. An eye examination revealed that he had star-shaped cataracts in both his eyes.

Bobby Korn, an associate professor of clinical ophthalmology at the University of California, who treated the patient and reported the incident in the article "Ocular Manifestation of Electrical Burn", said the optic nerve is like a wire that conducts electricity. "In this case, the extreme current and voltage that passed through this important natural wire caused damage to the optic nerve itself," he explained.

Korn also said that how cataracts can sometime take star-shaped forms is not fully understood although animal studies show that electric damage to the lens of the eye initially appear as small bubbles called vacuoles that merge to form a star-shaped cataract.

The man underwent cataract surgery four months after the accident but the damage to his optic nerve limited his sight. Ten years after the accident, the man can attend classes at a community college and read using low-vision aids. He can also commute by himself on public transportation but he still has poor vision and is legally blind.

Korn and fellow author Don Kikkawa, a professor of clinical ophthalmology at the University of California said that the outcome of cataract extraction can be limited if the optic nerve and the retina of the eye is damaged, just as in this case. "When lenticular opacities are the sole manifestations of electrical injury, cataract extraction is expected to produce a functional outcome. However, with concurrent damage to the optic nerve and retina, complete visual rehabilitation may be limited," they wrote.