Long-term therapy with chloroquine can lead to irreversible retinal damage and serious loss of visual acuity and visual field. Not only are the retinal changes irreversible but they may continue to progress after discontinuance of the drug. Work is proceeding on the development of electrophysiological techniques for early detection of toxic effect before significant retinal damage occurs. Another possibility for minimizing the toxic effect of chloroquine is the use of other drugs which increase the excretion of chloroquine from the body.
|