[Routine monitoring of patients treated with synthetic antimalarials]

Routine tests of visual acuity, and ocular fundus, angiography, and ERG examinations should be conducted regularly in patients receiving synthetic antimalarial drugs. Toxicity of these compounds is a current problem as 8 out of 81 patients being treated presented symptoms associated with ERG changes or macular lesions, and reduced visual acuity in some cases. There was a lack of correlation between ERG effects and the onset of macular disorders: one patient had marked macular changes and a normal ERG while another had a normal fundus and visual acuity but abolished ERG activity. Identical doses do not always produce the same effect and toxic symptoms have developed after a dosage ranging from 86 to 760 g. This suggests the existence of individual hypersensitivity.