Farhan Umair, Ahmad Noeman, Hafiz Rashid Ali, Kiran Ifthikar, Waqar Mustafa.
Frequency of ocular opacities in cardiac patients taking Amiodarone for cardiac arrhythmias.
J Cardiovascular Dis Jan ;17(1):38-43.

BACKGROUND: Amiodarone acts by modifying the depolarization and repolarization of myocardium. It is therefore very effective in treating the arrhythmias. But it has many side effects which may involve eyes, skin , thyroid or nerves etc. The occurrence of side effects may be related to use of high doses. AIMS & OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of ocular opacities in cardiac patients taking Amiodarone for cardiac arrhythmias. MATERIAL & METHODS: This was a cross sectional observational study performed at Department of Cardiology, Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore in collaboration with Department of Ophthalmology, Services hospital, Lahore from January 2018 to December 2018 after approval from hospital ethical committee. Total 100 patients of age 40-80 years of either gender taking Amiodarone for arrhythmias were selected through consecutive non-probability sampling technique. While patients already diagnosed as diabetic retinopathy or raised intracranial pressure were excluded from study. Patients were referred to Department of Ophthalmology, Services hospital for slit lamp examination and Goldmann Perimetry to confirm the presence of ocular opacities. The data was analysed using SPSS version 21. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 60.55+-12.07years. There were 62 (62%) males and 38 (38%) females. The patients had a mean BMI of 24.14+-3.23kg/m2. The mean duration of taking amiodarone was 14.05+-6.64months. Ocular opacities were present in 62 (62%) patients while 38 (38%) did not develop ocular opacities. Among patients who had ocular opacities, 12 (19.4%) had vortex keratopathy, 12 (19.4%) had ocular deposition, 12 (19.4%) had cataract, 10 (16.1%) had glaucoma, 7 (11.3%) macular degeneration while 9 (14.5%) had other ocular opacities. CONCLUSION: The frequency of ocular opacities is high in patients taking Amiodarone. So there is a need to screen patients on regular intervals to assess changes in eyes of cardiac patients. KEY WORDS: Cardiac Patients, Arrhythmias, Amiodarone, Ocular Opacities

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