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Some animal and short-term human studies have raised the concern that lithium causes retinal damage or sensitizes the retina to damage from bright light. These two studies assessed changes in retinal function in patients receiving chronic lithium treatment.
In the first study, electro-oculography (EOG), electroretinography (ERG), and findings on clinical ophthalmologic examination did not differ between 24 euthymic bipolar patients taking lithium for an average of 7.3 years and 21 age- and sex-matched controls. The second study also found no EOG or ERG abnormalities in 50 euthymic bipolar patients taking lithium for up to 23 years (no mean given), many of whom were taking other medications. However, compared with age-matched controls from th…