To investigate the association between hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) use and macular pigment optic densitometry (MPOD) abnormalities.
Fifty patients that have been receiving HCQ treatment and forty-eight control subjects were randomly selected from patients with no visual impairment with similar age and gender. All participants underwent detailed ophthalmologic examination including fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence, optic coherence tomography, and visual field analysis. Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) was measured by fundus reflectometry using one-wavelength reflection method. Patients with ongoing HCQ treatment formed the HCQ group and healthy subjects formed the control group.
Mean age was 50.9 ± 7.9 and 47.9 ± 9.4 years in the HCQ and controls groups respectively (
Patients with HCQ use have reduced MPOD. Further studies are required investigating the sensitivity and specificity of MPOD in detecting initial retinal changes in patients with HCQ use.