Ocular chrysiasis

Abstract

Thirty-four patients who had received over 1 gram of gold compounds for rheumatoid arthritis were examined for ocular chrysiasis. Ninety-seven percent of the patients receiving continuous chrysotherapy at the time of their ocular examination exhibited corneal chrysiasis. With few exceptions, corneal gold deposits were limited to the posterior one-half of the corneal thickness. Deposits tended to concentrate inferiorly and to spare the superior and peripheral cornea. Duration of chrysotherapy correlated positively with the clinically graded density of deposits. In this series, 55% (16/29) of these patients receiving gold therapy for three years or more had lenticular chrysiasis, although this has previously been considered rare. Our data suggest that gold is deposited in the cornea and lens from the anterior chamber aqueous fluid.