The highlights of September’s Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) included a review of the safety and effectiveness of a commonly-used corneal transplant procedure. The review was accompanied with a warning about a rare but fatal reaction to systematic fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics used to treat a variety of bacterial infections.

It was revealed that a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, administered in a systemic manner for treating a broad range of bacterial infections, can actually lead to diplopia (double vision) in some patients. It is presently believed that tendinitis in the muscles around the eyes is responsible for double vision.

From News-Medical.net:

The researchers, led by Frederick W. Fraunfelder, M.D., found 171 cases between 1986 and 2009 of fluoroquinolone use associated with double vision through a review of reports from the Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization, and the National Registry of Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects. The median patient age was 51.6 years, medication doses were within recommended levels, and the interval from starting medication to onset of double vision was 9.6 days on average. Medication was discontinued in 53 patients, and diplopia resolved in all cases.

“Doctors need to be aware of this potential reaction when prescribing these antibiotics and consider stopping therapy if diplopia occurs,” Dr. Fraunfelder said. He also said that special care should be taken with patients who are older than 60, have had renal failure, or are taking steroids, and that thorough ophthalmic and neurological exams should be done to rule out other causes of double vision.

These findings are expected to offer a big sigh of relief to patients who are suffering from the rare but fatal condition, diplopia.