[Ocular side-effects associated with amiodarone therapy].

Amiodarone, one of the most effective anti-arrhythmic drugs, is also known for its ability to accumulate lipid-pharmakon complexes in the lysosomes of different tissues. In the eye the lysosomal storage leads to typical side-effects. Whorl-like epithelial, reversible corneal inclusions occur in about 70 to 100 % of the patients on amiodarone therapy. Tiny lens opacities without visual impairment have been reported in 50 % of patients who had been treated with amiodarone. At present the most severe complication of amiodarone is optic neuropathy with an incidence of 1.3 to 1.8 %. The optic neuropathy, as the rule, is only reversible approximately in (1/2) of the patients after discontinuing the drug. The fundoscopic picture of amiodarone neuropathy is similar to classic AION. Retinal involvement has also been reported; however, a relationship with amiodarone has not been proven yet.