REVIEW ARTICLE


A Single Drop in the Eye – Effects on the Whole Body?



Anu Vaajanen1, 2, *, Heikki Vapaatalo3
1 Department of Ophthalmology, Tampere University Hospital, P.O. Box 2000, 33521 Tampere, Finland
2 SILK, Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Tampere, 33014, Tampere, Finland
3 Medical Faculty, Pharmacology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 63, 00014, Helsinki, Finland


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Creative Commons License
© 2017 Vaajanen and Vapaatalo.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Ophthalmology, Tampere University Hospital, P.O. Box 2000, 33521 Tampere, Finland; Tel: +358-331164852; Fax: +358-331164365; e-mail:anu.vaajanen@fimnet.fi


Abstract

Introduction:

Although the local adverse effects of ophthalmic drugs, including allergic reactions, are well recognized, less is known about the systemic side- effects of eye drops, especially during pregnancy, breast-feeding and early childhood. Ophthalmologists should also be aware of unusual, in some cases even life-threatening, effects of commonly used eye drops.

Conclusion:

This brief review outlines the routes of systemic absorption and the kinetics of active components present in eye drops, and identifies the clinically relevant systemic adverse effects.

Keywords: Single drop , Ophthalmic drugs , Eye , Body , Kinetics , Ocular drugs .