Static perimetry in canthaxanthin maculopathy
C. Harnois, P. Cortin, J. Samson, G. Boudreault, M. Malenfant and A. Rousseau
Department of Ophthalmology, Laval University Medical Center, Quebec, Canada.
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.
