Adverse ophthalmic reaction in poppers users: Case series of poppers maculopathy

49Citations
Citations of this article
57Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Background Poppers are a recreational substance of abuse belonging to the alkyl nitrite family of compounds. In the United Kingdom, where they are legal to purchase but illegal to sell for human consumption, 10% of the general population have tried them. They are considered low risk to physical and mental health. Two recent case series from France demonstrated foveal pathology in individuals associated with poppers use.MethodA case series of seven patients presenting to four hospitals in the United Kingdom with visual impairment and maculopathy associated with inhalation of poppers.ResultsAll patients experienced visual symptoms associated with poppers use. The majority had impaired visual acuity, central scotomata, distortion, or phosphenes. Clinical signs on fundoscopy ranged from normal foveal appearance to yellow, dome-shaped lesions at the foveola. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) showed varying degrees of disruption of the presumed inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction.DiscussionAlthough poppers have been in use for several decades, in 2007, following legislative changes, there was a change in the most commonly used compound from isobutyl nitrite to isopropyl nitrite. There were no reports of poppers maculopathy before this. Poppers maculopathy may be missed if patients are not directly questioned about their use. The disruption or loss of the presumed IS/OS junction on SD-OCT are a characteristic feature. Further study of maculopathy in poppers users is now needed. Raising public awareness of the ocular risks associated with their use may be necessary. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.

References Powered by Scopus

The Environment and Disease: Association or Causation?

8066Citations
844Readers

This article is free to access.

Get full text
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

This article is free to access.

47Citations
91Readers
Get full text
34Citations
110Readers

This article is free to access.

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Davies, A. J., Kelly, S. P., Naylor, S. G., Bhatt, P. R., Mathews, J. P., Sahni, J., … McKibbin, M. (2012). Adverse ophthalmic reaction in poppers users: Case series of poppers maculopathy. Eye (Basingstoke), 26(11), 1479–1486. https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2012.191

Readers over time

‘12‘13‘14‘15‘16‘17‘18‘19‘20‘21‘22‘23‘24‘25036912

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 21

66%

Researcher 6

19%

Professor / Associate Prof. 3

9%

Lecturer / Post doc 2

6%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Medicine and Dentistry 27

69%

Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceut... 6

15%

Chemistry 3

8%

Nursing and Health Professions 3

8%

Article Metrics

Tooltip
Mentions
News Mentions: 1
References: 4
Social Media
Shares, Likes & Comments: 48

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free
0