Amiodarone-induced keratopathy

Background: We studied 17 patients who received oral administration of amiodarone.

Methods: The patients were 13 males and 4 females with the mean age of 65.7 years. The periods of follow-up observation ranged from 120 to 1,085 days. Keratopathy was found in 7 cases(41.2%), during the follow-up period. The grade of keratopathy showed no fixed tendency in age, total drug dose, or duration of administration, nor was there any correlation between the grade on the one hand and the period from inception of amiodarone administration to the development of keratopathy and total drug dose on the other. The effects of amiodarone on the cornea, conjunctival epithelium, anterior subcapsular lens, and tear fluid were studied histologically in 2 cases. Effects of amiodarone were found in the cornea and anterior subcapsular lens, but not in the conjunctival epithelium and tear fluid.

Conclusions: It is possible that keratopathy may be an indicator for long-term administration and for predicting the development of other complications of amiodarone.