Does atovaquone prolong the disease-free interval of toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis?

Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2010 May 2. [Epub ahead of print]

Does atovaquone prolong the disease-free interval of toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis?

Winterhalter S, Severing K, Stammen J, Maier AK, Godehardt E, Joussen AM.

Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, billewin@gmx.de.

Abstract
BACKGROUND: To evaluate the efficacy of suppressing a recurrence of Toxoplasma retinochoroiditis after treatment with atovaquone. METHODS: Retrospective, nonrandomized, clinical trial. Forty-one immunocompetent patients were treated for Toxoplasma retinochoroiditis with atovaquone between 1999 and 2006. The diagnosis was based on clinical signs alone. Atovaquone was given 750 mg two to three times daily together with oral steroids. Lesion location, time interval until recurrence, visual function, and adverse events were recorded. RESULTS: Forty-two eyes of 41 patients were treated with atovaquone for Toxoplasma retinochoroiditis. Side-effects were usually mild and only one patient stopped therapy with atovaquone because of nausea. Reactivation of retinochoroiditis occurred in 18 patients (44%) during a time interval of 3-70 months. CONCLUSIONS: The therapy of Toxoplasma retinochoroiditis with atovaquone is well tolerated. Our data suggests that therapy with atovaquone has the potential to prolong the time to recurrence of Toxoplasma retinochoroiditis. A prospective randomized comparative long-term clinical trial would be necessary to confirm our data.

PMID: 20437247 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]