Static perimetry in canthaxanthin maculopathy.

We performed threshold static perimetry on 19 patients who had ingested canthaxanthin; 11 had maculopathy and eight did not. Patients with no history of canthaxanthin ingestion served as controls. All patients had visual acuity of 6/9 or better. Threshold static perimetry was reevaluated two to three years after cessation of canthaxanthin ingestion. For both testing sessions, patients with maculopathy presented lower retinal sensitivity than controls, while patients without maculopathy did not differ significantly from the control group. These results suggest that canthaxanthin retinopathy can adversely affect the neurosensory retina.

[Retinopathy due to canthazanthine: 2. Predisposing factors]. / La rétinopathie à la canthaxanthine: 2. Facteurs prédisposants.

A retrospective study of 14 cases of retinopathy due to canthaxanthine, a carotenoid recently used as a skin-tanning agent, revealed that several clinical factors were associated with an increased susceptibility to retinal deposits: focal epitheliopathy, ocular hypertension and, possibly, the concurrent use of beta-carotene. Age has already been established as such a factor.

[Canthaxanthine retinopathy: 1. Clinical study in 51 consumers]. / La rétinopathie à la canthaxanthine: 1. Etude clinique de 51 consommateurs.

Canthaxanthine, a non-provitamin A carotenoid, has been marketed in Canada since March 1979 as a skin-tanning agent. Fifty-one individuals who ingested from 3.6 to 66 g of the drug within a 24-month period were ophthalmologically evaluated. Six of them had deposits in the ocular fundus that appeared to be related to ingestion of the substance, but no functional impairment could be detected.

[Maculopathy with golden particles]. / Maculopathie en paillettes d'or.

This article describes two patients with a bilateral maculopathy due to the presence of numerous glistening yellow particles located mainly around the edge of the macular pit. This picture has apparently not been reported before. Further studies are needed to confirm a possibly toxic origin.

X-linked ocular albinism: relative value of skin biopsy, iris transillumination and funduscopy in identifying affected males and carriers.

In a group of 15 males with X-linked ocular albinism and 13 obligate carriers of the gene for the condition skin biopsy in a search for giant pigment granules with light microscopy and macromelanosomes with electron microscopy gave positive results more often than iris transillumination and funduscopy. Thus, skin biopsy should significantly improve the detection of both affected males and carriers.

A patterned macular dystrophy with yellow plaques and atrophic changes.

Three middle-aged male patients are described with a peculiar patterned dystrophy of the macula. The basic lesions are discrete yellow plaques typically confined to the macular area and radiating from the fovea. They appear to be located at the level of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). With the passage of time some of the yellow plaques altered in extent and configuration, and atrophic changes appeared or extended. Visual acuity and electrophysiological tests are either normal or only moderately affected. The lesions appear to be distinct from the patterned dystrophies of the retina already described and from other conditions characterised by yellow or white deposits at the level of the RPE.