Skin changes and chlorpromazine. Some hazards of long-term drug therapy.

Abstract

In the past two years there have been several reports dealing with the unusual discoloration present in the sunexposed sites of patients receiving prolonged and high doses of chlorpromazine. The general consensus has been that it is due to a melanin or a melanin-plus-drug combination. Electron-microscopic examination of both normal and involved skin from these patients, as well as examination of extracts and residues of normal and involved skin of these patients following the extraction of chlorpromazine from the tissue, strongly suggests that the peculiar blue-gray color presented by these patients is due to a combination of both the drug and melanin rather than to melanin by itself.