Color vision deficiencies: a common sign of intoxication in chronically digoxin-treated patients.

On the basis of anamnestic data from digitalis-intoxicated patients, rates of general disorders of vision between 6 and 20% have been reported. We used a psychophysical method, an automatically evaluated Farnsworth's Munsell 100-Hue Test, to detect color vision deficiencies in patients who received beta-methyldigoxin or beta-acetyldigoxin for at least 4 weeks as maintenance therapy. Patients were subgrouped according to serum digoxin concentrations measured by radioimmunoassay. There was a significant correlation between extent and rate of color vision deficiencies and serum digoxin concentrations. About 80% of the intoxicated patients showed generalized color vision deficiencies.