INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE

INCIDENCE OF STEROID INDUCED RISE IN LOCAL POPULATION OF NORMAL, V.K.C AND C.S.G PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: To assess the incidence of steroid induced rise in intra-ocular pressure
in different group of patients. Place and duration of study: The study was conducted in the
department of ophthalmology Akhtar Saeed Trust Teaching Hospital of Akhtar Saeed Medical
and Dental College Lahore and Continental Medical College Lahore from Jan 2009 to Oct 2010.
Material and Methods: Three groups were formulated in which group A comprised of normal
population with no ocular disease, group B included patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis
while group C comprised of chronic simple glaucoma patients with controlled intraocular
pressure. Dexamethasone 0.1% eye drops were used four times daily for four weeks and patients
were evaluated weekly in terms of IOP monitoring after which they were labeled as either low or
non-responders, moderate responders or high responders. Results: In group A 40% of the
patients showed rise in IOP, group B showed 95% rise in IOP and the response in group C cases
was 100%. Conclusions: Topical steroids result in significant rise in IOP therefore careful
monitoring should be done in all patients on corticosteroids.