Ocular toxicity in babies unlikely to be caused by two
rheumatology drugs
Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine do not appear to
cause ocular toxicity in the babies of women given either drug while pregnant.
Dr Gil Klinger, department of paediatrics, Hospital
for Sick Children, Toronto, and colleagues report this finding in a letter
to The Lancet (2001;358:813).
Although it is rare, both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine
have been reported to cause visual defects, and a link between intrauterine
exposure to chloroquine and retinal abnormalities has been made.
Dr Klinger and colleagues performed detailed ophthalmological
examinations on 21 children who had been exposed to either drug in
utero for an average of 7.2 months and compared the findings with
reported normal results.
Visual acuity was normal for age in all examined
children and no ophthalmological abnormalities were detected.
“The absence of visual abnormalities and other birth
defects suggests that when chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are required
to control symptoms of rheumatological disease in pregnant women, the
risk to benefit ratio is favourable,” they say. However, they add that
a large follow-up study is needed to confirm the findings.
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