Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0344232 (blurred vision)
 2,072 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Optic neuritis occurred in three of our patients receiving treatment with alpha interferon-2b (Intron-A; 3MU thrice weekly) for chronic hepatitis. The complication appeared within, 1, 9 1/2 and 10 months of treatment, respectively. In all cases, blurred vision was the initial complaint and subsequent electrophysiologic investigation confirmed the presence of optic tract neuropathy. The patients had no other neurologic signs. Computerized tomography and magnetic resonance image of the brain were not remarkable. Psychiatric symptoms, in the form of an interferon-associated depressive reaction, were present in two of them; in one case, it was severe enough to require immediate discontinuation of treatment. In two patients the visual symptoms resolved and the parameters of neurophysiologic testing returned to normal within 1 month after stopping interferon. In one case, however, residual optic tract impairment associated with a unilateral central scotoma and a substantial decrease of visual acuity was present 2 years later, despite a course of methylprednizolone. In this patient the interferon treatment was continued for 3 months despite the visual symptoms, and he later received two additional interferon courses because of relapses of hepatitis. We conclude that clinically evident optic tract neuropathy may complicate interferon administration. Candidates for interferon treatment may need routine examination of optic fields and visual evoked potentials, before and during administration of the drug to avoid possibly permanent visual sequelae.
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PMID:Optic tract neuropathy complicating low-dose interferon treatment. 783 21

A 53-year-old woman with depressive symptoms and sleep problems, diagnosed as adjustment disorder with depressive reaction (ICD-10, F43.2), was treated with mirtazapine at a dose of 30 mg/day for a period of 10 weeks. In view of an imminent surgical intervention, the medication was than abruptly stopped. On the second day after discontinuation of mirtazapine, the patient developed a typical panic attack crisis with symptoms of palpitations, dyspnoea, retro-sternal pain, dizziness and nausea, blurred vision, anguish and fear of dying. During the next 5 days the patient suffered from severe, similar attacks recurring every 1-2 h, with each attack lasting about 20 min. Upon hospitalization and minor surgical intervention, the frequency and severity of symptoms regressed progressively, but the patient remained, with about one attack per week, not symptom free until the restitution of mirtazapine treatment at a dose of 30 mg/day. After re-introduction of mirtazapine panic attacks vanished, and during the entire follow-up period the patient remained symptom free. This case illustrates the risk of abrupt withdrawal of mirtazapine and indicates that, even after a medium-long therapy (10 weeks) with mirtazapine, progressive tapering-off of medication is advisable.
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PMID:Recurrent, persisting panic attacks after sudden discontinuation of mirtazapine treatment: A case report. 2492 46