Pigmentary Maculopathy From Chronic Exposure to Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium

In this interview from AAO 2018, Dr. Nieraj Jain describes a novel maculopathy associated with years of exposure to Elmiron (pentosan polysulfate sodium), the only FDA-approved oral treatment for interstitial cystitis. The condition was discovered when Dr. Jain noticed that a number of patients with so-called pattern dystrophy had been taking the drug for a median duration of 16 years. The drug's role in maculopathy has gone unnoticed until now, Dr. Jain says, because the fundus findings can appear subtle unless viewed by advanced retinal imaging. Some cases were attributed to pattern dystrophy and the adverse effect can take more than a decade to develop. He recommends multimodal imaging of patients taking Elmiron and, if maculopathy is present, taking the patient off the drug. Dr. Jain's findings appeared in the November 2018 issue of Ophthalmology, and was named a Best Original Paper at AAO 2018.

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