Twice-yearly exams unnecessary for patients taking quetiapine

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2004.05.038Get rights and content

Purpose

To determine the necessity for the heightened level of monitoring for cataract development in patients taking quetiapine (Seroquel, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Delaware) dictated by the Physicians' Desk Reference. Also, to explore the possibility of cataractogenesis because of quetiapine therapy.

Design

Observational case series.

Methods

Data were garnered from a series of 80 case reports collected at the National Registry of Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects (Portland, Oregon). The World Health Organization (WHO) causality assessment guidelines were used to assess the relationship between quetiapine and cataractogenesis.

Results

There were 34 reports of cataracts associated with quetiapine therapy. Average age was 44 years with 23 females and 11 males studied. Average duration of therapy was 29.3 weeks on standard doses.

Conclusions

Cataractogenesis secondary to quetiapine is “unlikely” by WHO guidelines. This probably makes it unnecessary to require biannual ophthalmic examinations as routine eye examinations are sufficient to screen for this condition.

References (5)

  • Physicians' Desk Reference

    (2004)
  • F. Valibhai et al.

    Cataracts and quetiapine

    Am J Psychiatry

    (2001)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (20)

  • Drugs Affecting the Central Nervous System

    2020, Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects, Eigtht Edition
  • Association between antipsychotic drug use and cataracts in patients with bipolar disorder: A population-based, nested case-control study

    2017, Journal of Affective Disorders
    Citation Excerpt :

    Furthermore, our results showed that among patients with BD, past and continuous users of AAPs had reduced odds of cataract development, which is similar to the study results conducted by Pakzad-Vaezi et al. (2013) demonstrating a protective association between the use of AAPs and risk of clinically significant cataracts requiring surgery. On the other hand, most previous studies demonstrated that use of AAPs is not associated with an increased risk of cataract development in patients with schizophrenia (Chou et al., 2016; Fraunfelder, 2004; Souza et al., 2008; Ucok and Gaebel, 2008). However, due to different study population recruited in these studies, it is difficult to make direct comparisons between our study results with those in previous studies.

  • Prevalence of diagnosed ocular disease in veterans with serious mental illness

    2016, General Hospital Psychiatry
    Citation Excerpt :

    In a case–control study, McCarty et al. [3] found that the prevalence of anterior subcapsular cataract in patients with schizophrenia was 26%. While quetiapine has been implicated in cataract formation, this association is controversial [21–23]. While the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in individuals with SMI is two to three times higher than in the general population [16], we found SMI to be protective of ophthalmic complications of diabetes in our sample.

  • Use of atypical antipsychotics and risks of cataract development in patients with schizophrenia: A population-based, nested case-control study

    2016, Schizophrenia Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    Among individual AAPs, there has been concern about a causal link between quetiapine and lens opacities in humans because focal triangular cataracts were found in beagle dogs receiving quetiapine at four times the maximum human dose for six or 12 months (Shahzad et al., 2002). In the present study, we did not identify an increased risk of cataract development in SZ patients continuously treated with quetiapine, consistent with previous reports (Fraunfelder, 2004; Laties et al., 2000, 2015; Lieberman et al., 2005; Nasrallah et al., 1999; Whitehorn et al., 2004). Furthermore, similar to previous reports (Shahzad et al., 2002), we did not identify an increased risk of cataract development in continuous users of olanzapine, risperidone, or ziprasidone.

  • Part 7 - Drug-induced ocular side effects

    2014, Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects: Clinical Ocular Toxicology
View all citing articles on Scopus

This study was supported in part by an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, New York and by the National Registry of Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon.

The authors are indebted to the national centers in this study that contributed data. Their opinions and conclusions, however, are not necessarily those of the various centers or of the WHO. The author has no proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.

View full text