Comparative study of the intraocular pressure elevation potentials of dexamethasone phosphate and fluoro-metholone acetate on normotnsive Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS: Corticosteroids provide a non-specific mode of therapy for suppressing inflammation without eliminating the cause; and their local ophthalmic use entails a degree of risk for serious ocular complications like steroid induced glaucoma, cataract formation, rebound inflammation, etcetera. The risk of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) was compared for dexamethasone phosphate (Decadron ) and fluorometholone acetate (Flarex ) on 32 normotensive volunteers, comprising 12 males and 20 females of the age range 18-40 years. However, age and sex were not considered in the study. An IOP increase of > 5mmHg was recorded in 44 eyes (68.8%) for Decadron as against 2 eyes (3.1%) for Flarex ; and this difference was found to be highly significant when analyzed statistically using the Z-test at 95% confidence interval. Fluoromentholone acetate, therefore, has a low propensity for increasing IOP, and is recommended for treating most ocular inflammations in patients where an increased IOP is considered an urgent visual risk. Intraocular Pressure, Steroids, Fluorometholone acetate, Dexamethasone phosphate,