There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
A 67-year-old man had a diagnosis of dapsone-resistant lepromatous leprosy. He received
clofazimine (Lamprene) at a dosage of 100 mg twice daily. After 3 years of therapy,
results of slit-lamp examination disclosed myriad polychromatic crystals diffusely
involving the cornea and perilimbal conjunctiva of both eyes. Thick sections (1 micron)
from a conjunctival biopsy showed numerous rectangular-to-rhomboidal crystals within
stromal fibroblasts and macrophages. By electron microscopy, these cells contained
elongated, membrane-bound, cleft-like spaces that corresponded to the sites where
crystals had been present previously. Additionally, complex lipid inclusions were
observed in mesenchymal cells as well as in endothelial cells and pericytes of blood
vessels. The ocular side effects of clofazimine therapy are reviewed. Clofazimine-induced
keratopathy should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients with polychromatic
crystalline deposits in the corneas. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this complication
of clofazimine therapy has not been described previously.