NEONATAL ORBITAL IRRITANT CONTACT-DERMATITIS CAUSED BY GENTAMICIN OINTMENT

The common preventive therapy in our department for newborns' eyes is tetracycline ophthalmic ointment. Due to temporary shortage of tetracy cline ophthalmic ointment for one week in December 1991, the preventiv e therapy given to seventy-one newborns was gentamicin sulfate ophthal mic ointment. Five babies (7 percent of all newborns) experienced mark ed edema of the eyelids, foci of erythema, and serous exudate within t he first days of life, The lesions regressed gradually and disappeared entirely within two to three weeks without any complications, These l esions represent the first description of orbital irritant contact der matitis in newborns, most probably caused by topical gentamicin prepar ation, However, one cannot exclude sensitivity to paraben, which is th e preservative used in gentamicin ointment, or a synergistic action of both agent and preservative.