Drugs & Supplements With Adverse Effects on Ophthalmic Conditions Drugs

This list of drugs is derived from the American Academy of Ophthalmology Syllabus for “Drug-Related Adverse Effects of Clinical Importance to the Ophthalmologist (F.W. Fraunfelder, MD, Instructor). For details about each drug, see the Syllabus. DRUGS topiramate (Topamax) 10% phenylephrine pledgets (Neo-Synephrine) sildenafil (Viagra) isotretinoin (Accutane)amiodarone (Cordone) hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine (Plaquenil) marijuana tamoxifen Bisphosphonates: alendronic acid ibandronate pamidronate zolendronate Carbonic Anhydrase [Read More]

Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS)

by Dan Roberts September 2004 This syndrome is characterized by visual hallucinations in people who have a sudden change in vision such as that brought on by macular degeneration. Named after the man who first described it in 1780, it was later defined as “persistent or recurrent visual pseudohallucinatory phenomena of a pleasant or neutral [Read More]

Pattern Dystrophies

by Wendy Strouse Watt, O.D. November 2003 Pattern dystrophies are inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion and they involve the Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) and the external macular retina. Pattern dystrophies represent a group of disorders that present in midlife with mild visual disturbances in one or both eyes. Since patients present later in life [Read More]

Retinal Telangiectasias

by Wendy Strouse Watt, O.D. November 2003 Retinal telangiectasias are a group of rare, idiopathic (a disease having no known cause), congenital retinal vascular anomalies affecting the retinal capillaries. The conditions are characterized by dilation and tortuosity of retinal vessels and formation of multiple aneurysms (localized, pathological, blood-filled dilatations of a blood vessel caused by [Read More]