Study of Retinal Damage following Cyclosporine-A eating using Electroretinogram Technique

Abstract

Introduction: Cyclosporine A is prescribed as an immunosuppressive agent in many diseases. One of the side effects of cyclosporine is visual disturbances and retinal damage. Different methods are available to investigate the damage to the retina, the best of which is the electroretinogram technique. In this study, the effects of cyclosporine on the retina of patients with rheumatoid arthritis were studied

Methods: In this observational study, which was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, 55 patients with cyclosporine due to rheumatoid arthritis in 2012-2014 were randomly selected and subjected to electroretinography and voltage and delay phase were determined and compared with the normal range. The results were analyzed by means of statistical analysis of variance. Significant level was set at 0.05.

Results: The average recorded voltage in ERG was 74.7 with a standard deviation of 29.79, which showed a statistically significant difference from normal value of 125 (P=0.0001). The mean recorded latency was 33.9 with a standard deviation of 3.58, which means no significant difference from normal value of 32.39 (P=0.545).

Conclusion: Based on the results, it is concluded that the use of cyclosporine significantly reduces the voltage recorded in the electroretinogram, but does not affect the latency phase. Therefore, patients taking this medicine should continue their treatment according to the ophthalmologist.