Agranulocytosis is a rare and little-known side effect of hydroxychloroquine use. This report describes the case of a 71-year-old woman with poorly controlled rheumatoid arthritis who developed agranulocytosis after several months of hydroxychloroquine therapy. She had been on several different disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, including methotrexate and leflunomide, for her rheumatoid art...

Purpose. To evaluate the effect of hydroxychloroquine on retinal pigment epithelium- (RPE-) Bruch's membrane complex, photoreceptor outer segment, and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thicknesses using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods. In this prospective case-control study, 51 eyes of 51 hydroxychloroquine patients and 30 eyes of 30 healthy subj...

The aim of this study is to report a rare case of macular edema as a presentation of hydroxychloroquine-related retinal toxicity. We presented a case of a 46-year-old female patient using hydroxychloroquine for underlying rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with blurred vision over the left eye. Uveitis and macular edema were found initially. Systemic survey did not reveal any other etiology. Topical cor...

Objective Prior studies suggest an increased risk of cervical cancer among women with systemic lupus erythematosus. However, the relationship with immunosuppressive drugs is not well studied in US nationwide cohorts. We compared the risk of high-grade cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer among women with systemic lupus erythematosus who started immunosuppressive drugs versus hydroxychloroquin...

Visual loss in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) due to autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) is rare and easily misdiagnosed as hydroxychloroquine retinopathy. We report the rare clinical presentation of severe visual loss in a patient with SLE due to nonparaneoplastic AIR as differentiated from hydroxychloroquine toxicity. A 70-year-old female diagnosed and treated for lupus for 17 years and had been...

PURPOSE To determine measurement variability of N1P1 amplitudes and the R1/R2 ratio in normal subjects and hydroxychloroquine users without retinopathy. DESIGN Retrospective, observational study. SUBJECTS Normal subjects (n=21) and 44 patients taking hydroxychloroquine (n=44) without retinopathy. METHODS Multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) was performed twice in one session in the 21 n...

OBJECTIVE To report clinical experience from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who were receiving recommended doses of hydroxychloroquine for more than six years, and were monitored for evidence of hydroxychloroquine related retinopathy every six months. METHODS A prospective (and continuing) evaluation was made of the potential retinal toxicity of...

Hydroxychloroquine is used in the long-term therapy of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Although considered to be a safe treatment, side effects have been documented. An uncommon side effect is thrombocytopenia. In order to establish the diagnosis of thrombocytopenia secondary to Hydroxychloroquine, non-pharmacological causes must be ruled out and it is necessary to determine a recurrence af...

OBJECTIVES To review the types, incidence, pathogenesis, risk factors, and clinical characteristics of hydroxychloroquine ocular toxicity and current views about its screening and management. DATA SOURCES Literature search of Medline up to May 2005. STUDY SELECTION Key words for the literature search were 'hydroxychloroquine', 'chloroquine', 'ocular', 'toxicity', 'retinopathy', and 'screeni...

Accepted for publication 20 January 1993 Abstract Objectives-In 1985 and 1988 a positive effect of treatment of primary Sj6gren's syndrome with hydroxychloroquine was reported in two small open studies. To investigate further the clinical and laboratory effects of hydroxychloroquine in primary Sjogren's syndrome a two year study was performed. Methods-The design of the study included a prospect...