Deposits in the lens and cornea of the eye during long-term chlorpromazine medication

Abstract

Thirty patients on long-term treatment with chlorpromazine in moderate doses showed deposits in the lens, and the majority of the patients also showed deposits in the cornea. These deposits did not increase in the 13 patients who continued on chlorpromazine during an observation period of 31/2 years. Thus, when chlorpromazine is used in moderate doses, the deposits in the eyes seem to increase only up to a certain extent. Twelve patients who were switched over to thioridazine showed no change in the deposition in the lens and cornea after the observation period, indicating that the deposits are irreversible. After the observation period visual acuity had deteriorated somewhat in the material as a whole, presumably because of advancing age, not because of the deposits. The risk of using chlorpromazine in moderate dosage is slight.