Evaluation of Retinal Changes in preclinical chlorouquine maculopathy using spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Purpose: evaluation of retinal changes using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in early detection of Chloroquine maculopathy in Iraqi patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: ninty six patients were included in this study .They were divided into two groups . First group compose of (46) patients with RA(rheumatoid arthritis) who received chloroquine therapy for more than two years. All patients had no clinical feature of Chloroquine retinopathy. Second group (control group)were (50)normal female. They were evaluated using SD-OCT. Results:The mean central foveal thickness(CFT) was less in the Chloroquine group (228.94?µm ± 4.71) compare to normal controls (255.12?µm ± 11.54), which was statistically significant ( p value 0.001). The mean parafoveal thickness was thinner in the Chloroquine group than other group in superior,inferior and temporal quadrants . Conclusions: In the preclinical stage, chloroquine toxicity might result in early thinning involving mainly central fovea and parafoveal zone ,this changes can be detected by SD-OCT