Keratopathy with low dose chloroquine therapy

Antimalarial drugs (4-aminoguinolines) are often used as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and remission inducers in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this paper we report on ocular signs of aminoquinolinic toxicity among 39 patients, 31 with RA and 8 with SLE. These patients received either chloroquine 250 mg q.h.s. or hydroxychloroquine 200 mg b.i.d. No maculopathy was detected, however 75% of the patients showed various degrees of keratopathy ranging from epithelial haze to dense "whorl" deposits. No correlation was found between severity of the keratopathy and the estimated total amount of aminoquinoline administered.