Popper Maculopathy: Long-Term Follow-Up and Case Series
January 2020
TLDR Using poppers can cause vision problems, but stopping their use might lead to complete recovery over time.
The document describes a case series involving four male patients with an average age of 37 who experienced visual disturbances linked to the use of poppers, volatile alkyl nitrite compounds. These disturbances included central scotomata, phosphenes, or photophobia, and all patients showed subfoveal disruption of the ellipsoid zone on OCT. The study found that the extent of macular changes correlated with the duration of popper use, with more severe changes in chronic users. Importantly, one patient who stopped using poppers exhibited a complete resolution of retinal signs after 3 years, suggesting that popper maculopathy can potentially resolve completely with cessation of use.
