Macular toxicity and blind spot enlargement during a treatment by voriconazole: A case report

Abstract

Purpose: To report a case of macular toxicity and blind spot enlargement during voriconazole treatment.

Methods: This is a case report.

Results: We describe a 77-year-old man treated by voriconazole for pulmonary aspergillosis, who complained of visual disorders such as dyschromatopsia and visual hallucinations 3 days after voriconazole initiation. Initial ophthalmological examination found no loss of visual acuity. The anterior and posterior segments presented no anomalies. The chromatic vision evaluated with the Lanthony 15-Hue Desaturated Test demonstrated dyschromatopsia in the left eye along the tritan axis, and the Goldmann visual field examination found a blind spot enlargement in both eyes. The multifocal electroretinogram found a global decrease in the foveal peak in both eyes. Visual evoked potential showed asymmetric data and lower amplitudes of the P(100) wave on the left eye. No anomalies were observed on spectral domain macular optical coherence tomography. As a first step, based on presumed dose-dependent toxicity, voriconazole dose was reduced. No improvements were noted. The voriconazole treatment was then discontinued and replaced with itraconazole. After 1 month, visual field and multifocal electroretinogram had improved and visual hallucinations had disappeared.

Conclusion: Voriconazole can cause potentially serious visual side effects. Adapting treatment based on plasma concentrations of voriconazole did not prevent the appearance of visual side effects in this case. Therapeutic drug switching within the same drug family seems to be an effective alternative to preserve ocular function.

Keywords: Blind spot enlargement; drug side effect; macular toxicity; voriconazole.