Drug-induced mydriasis in infants born at different gestation terms

Abstract

Background. At the present time, the problem of choice of eye drops to achieve adequate mydriasis with minimal side effects for retinopathy of prematurity screening remains an urgent challenge. Purpose. To estimate the clinical efficacy of combination mydriatic eye drops Fenicamide in infants born at different gestation terms. Materials and methods. Under observation, there were 75 newborns (150 eyes) and babies aged from 1 day to 3 months (average, 38.2 ± 32.2 days). Patients were distributed into 3 groups depending on gestational age: group 1 consisted of 25 full-term infants; group 2 – of 25 premature babies, and group 3 – of 25 extremely preterm infants. To achieve mydriasis, 1 drop of combination eye drops (5% phenylephrine and 0.8% tropicamide) was instilled. Dynamics of pupil diameter change in each group of patients was registered within 4 hours, and side effects were recorded within 24 hours. The quality of fundus visualization was estimated using a pediatric retinal camera RetCam 3. Results. Maximal pupil dilation (average, 6.5 ± 0.5 mm) was reached to 60 ± 14 min after instillation on average; pupil remained dilated within 1 hour, its diameter became normal in 4 hours. Mydriasis varied from 5.9 mm in extremely premature infants to 7 mm in the full-term newborns (p > 0.05), and allowed a full and high quality examination of the fundus in all patients, including the visualization of peripheral zones of the retina for retinopathy of prematurity screening. It was established that drug side effects were absent in 76% (57) of infants, they were present in 24% (18) of infants, mostly as local reaction. Conclusion. Fenicamide eye drops are an effective mydriatic medication, with a convenient instillation regimen, have minimal side effects, and can be recommended for retinopathy of prematurity screening and monitoring.