A Case of Cataract after Long-Term Use of Clonazepam in a Young Patient

Byung Ju Choo; Young Suk Kang; Tai Jin Kim; Jung Hyun Park

doi:10.3341/jkos.2011.52.12.1541

Journal List > J Korean Ophthalmol Soc > v.52(12) > 1008965

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Choo, Kang, Kim, and Park: A Case of Cataract after Long-Term Use of Clonazepam in a Young Patient

Original Article

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2011;52(12):1541-1544.

Published online: 7 September 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2011.52.12.1541

A Case of Cataract after Long-Term Use of Clonazepam in a Young Patient

Byung Ju Choo, MD¹, Young Suk Kang, MD², Tai Jin Kim, MD¹, Jung Hyun Park, MD¹

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Ophthalmology, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to Jung Hyun Park, MD Department of Ophthalmology, Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital #85 Jeo-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-032, Korea Tel: 82-2-2270-0082, Fax: 82-2-2266-6159, E-mail: hyuny@medimail.co.kr

Received 17 March 201121 May 2011 Accepted 18 October 2011

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

To report a case of cataract after long-term use of clonazepam in a young patient, with a similar appearance to cataract induced by other psychotropic agents.

Case summary

A 37-year-old woman complained of a visual disturbance in both eyes. The best-corrected visual acuity was 0.8 in the right eye and 0.6 in the left eye. Bilateral cortical cataract was observed on slit-lamp examination, and no other ophthalmic abnormalities were found. Potential risk factors for cataract were investigated, including past medical and family history, revealing a 20-year history of oral clonazepam (0.5-1 mg/day), for the neurological diagnosis of “chorea of unknown etiology”. Detailed medication history did not reveal long-term use of any other drugs which could have induced the cataract.

Conclusions

Because clonazepam use may induce cortical cataract, regular ophthalmologic examinations are necessary during long-term oral psychotropic therapy.

Keywords: Benzodiazepine, Cataract, Clonazepam

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Figure 1.

Slit-lamp photographs of bilateral cataract. Both eyes of a patient show stellate anterior subcapsular cataract.

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