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Intraocular pressure profile of a child on a systemic corticosteroid
Clement C Y Tham1, Joan S K Ng, Randa T H Li
1Department of Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. clemtham@hkstar.com
Purpose:
To report the ocular hypertensive response to high-dose systemic corticosteroid in a pediatric patient.
Design:
Observational case report.
Methods:
A 9-year-old patient with leukemia received oral prednisolone at a dosage of 2.3 mg/kg/d for 5 weeks, followed by a 4-month break and then a 4-week course of oral dexamethasone at 10 mg/d. Detailed ocular examination was performed for both eyes before and regularly throughout the two courses of treatment.
Results:
The intraocular pressure in both eyes rose to almost 40 mm Hg after only 8 days of oral corticosteroid. On stopping systemic corticosteroid, the intraocular pressure rapidly returned to baseline level within 2 days. A similar intraocular pressure profile was recorded for both eyes during the course of oral dexamethasone. The patient remained largely asymptomatic throughout.
Conclusions:
Systemic corticosteroid may give rise to significant but asymptomatic ocular hypertension in pediatric patients.
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