DRUGS AND THE EYE: A CRITICAL REVIEW
Drugs administered systemically for the treatment of one disease or the other, usually have their effects manifested in other parts of the body not related to their site of action, such as the ocular tissues. The mechanisms contributing to the ocular effects of systemically administered drugs are complex and diverse. They depend on the amount of drug administered, nature of drug, route of administration, pathophysiologic variables of the individual, sex variation, age, multiple drug therapy, previous history of drug allergy as well as individual idiosyncrasy and genomics. Ocular structures, due to their unique features and small mass are affected differently depending on the systemic drug. Similarly, ocular functions such as the visual acuity, amplitude of accommodation and intraocular pressure are affected. Hence, few of these reactions can be predicted, reduced and/or prevented by the clinician’s knowledge of the contributing factors as well as knowledge of specific systemic drugs known to have ocular manifestations. Clinicians should therefore be aware of these and aid in early recognition of possible ocular reaction