Ocular Changes Associated With Long-Term Chlorpromazine Therapy

This paper reports characteristic granular changes found in the lens and cornea of patients who had received high dosages of chlorpromazine * for a prolonged period of time. These changes were noted in 49 of 131 patients, some of whom had received chlorpromazine for as long as nine years. Numerous annoying and sometimes harmful side reactions involving many of the body systems have been reported on relative shortterm therapy.¹⁻⁴Long-term effects have been reported only recently.⁵,⁶Greiner and Berry described a violaceous, metallic discoloration of the skin of the exposed areas of the face, neck and hands in 70 patients.⁷In 12 of the most severely affected individuals they also noticed grossly visible granular deposits in the posterior cornea and the anterior lens. Clinical Study The data presented in this paper were obtained by examining the eyes of 131 patients of Norristown State Mental Hospital who had received