[Gold salt deposits in the conjunctiva in rheumatoid arthritis after gold therapy. A systematic study of 15 biopsies].

Ocular abnormalities have long been recognized as a potential adverse effect of gold therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical symptoms and ocular tissue lesions possibly related to use of gold therapy were routinely evaluated in eleven patients. There were few clinical manifestations: only one patient had typical accumulation of gold in the anterior crystalloid. In contrast, routine ultrastructural and microprobe studies of conjunctival biopsy specimens disclosed accumulation of gold salts in every case. Gold was visible as aurosomes in the conjunctival macrophages. Aurosomes were seen in patients treated for as little as one month, occurred even with low doses (0.3 g), and were still visible after several years. Duration of accumulation can be roughly estimated on the basis of the morphologic appearance of aurosomes which are lamellar after a few weeks of gold therapy and rod-shaped beyond one month.