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Updated: Aug 23, 2025

Multifocal Electroretinograms
Published on: December 4, 2011
Clarithromycin-Induced Visual Hallucinations
Daragh McGee1, Cathal Hanley2, Audrey Reynolds2
1Catherine McCauley Centre for Education, University College Dublin, Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
Abstract:
An independent 90-year-old woman presented to hospital with vivid and dynamic visual hallucinations following initiation of clarithromycin therapy. She had a background of previous cataract removal with good visual resolution and no significant deficits in visual acuity. Notably, she had been taking sertraline and quinine concurrently. Her symptoms fully resolved 72 hours following cessation of clarithromycin therapy. Visual hallucinations associated with clarithromycin could be explained by recent research demonstrating clarithromycin increases neuronal excitability by inhibiting gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic signalling. Case reports of similar nature are rare, and we believe this report adds to a currently growing body of literature of visual hallucinations as a side effect of clarithromycin.
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