Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts Induced by Corticosteroids in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Abstract
POSTERIOR subcapsular cataracts (PSC) are generally associated with exposure to toxic agents, posterior intraocular disease, ionizing radiation, or blunt trauma. As a rule these lenticular lesions are differentiated from senile cataracts by their location and appearance on slit lamp examination. The discovery of PSC, in the absence of any of the above etiologic factors, in four rheumatoid arthritis patients who were receiving prolonged administration of synthetic corticosteroids prompted a careful review and examination of rheumatoid arthritis patients available for study between June, 1959, and April, 1960. This survey revealed that 39% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had received long-term corticosteroid therapy developed PSC, whereas those who had not were free of this type of lenticular opacity. This ocular lesion, to date, has been relatively benign and has not caused severe impairment of vision. Since formation of PSC has not been described previously as one of the adverse effects of

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