Marked Intraocular Pressure Response to Instillation of Corticosteroids in Children

We examined intraocular pressures of patients with strabismus whose eyes were instilled with corticosteroid eyedrops after a strabismus operation. Group A consisted of 11 children under 10 years of age whose eyes were instilled with 0.1% dexamethasone; Group B consisted of nine patients 10 years old or older whose eyes were instilled with 0.1% dexamethasone; and Group C consisted of 13 children under 10 years of age whose eyes were instilled with 0.1% fluorometholone. In Group A, four patients had intraocular pressures greater than 30 mm Hg, five had intraocular pressures from 21 to 30 mm Hg, and two had intraocular pressures under 21 mm Hg one or two weeks postoperatively. The intraocular pressure decreased to less than 21 mm Hg one week after discontinuation of dexamethasone treatment in all nine patients. No patients in Groups B or C had intraocular pressures greater than 20 mm Hg. Our results suggest that marked ocular hypertensive response to 0.1% dexamethasone treatment occurs frequently in children under 10 years of age.