Lotemax Special Precautions

For ophthalmic use only.
The initial prescription and renewal of the medication order beyond 14 days should be made by a physician only after examination of the patient with the aid of magnification eg, slit lamp biomicroscopy and, where appropriate, fluorescein staining.
If signs and symptoms fail to improve after 2 days, the patient should be re-evaluated.
If Lotemax is used for ≥10 days, intraocular pressure should be monitored even though it may be difficult in children and uncooperative patients.
Fungal infections of the cornea are particularly prone to develop coincidentally with long-term local steroid application. Fungal invasion must be considered in any persistent corneal ulceration where a steroid has been used or is being used. Fungal cultures should be taken when appropriate.
Prolonged use of corticosteroids may result in glaucoma with damage to the optic nerve, defects in visual acuity and fields of vision, and in posterior subcapsular cataract formation. Steroids should be used with caution in the presence of glaucoma.
Prolonged use of corticosteroids may suppress the host response and thus increase the hazard of secondary ocular infections. In those diseases causing thinning of the cornea or sclera, perforations have been known to occur with the use of topical steroids. In acute purulent conditions of the eye, steroids may mask infection of enhance existing infection.
Use of ocular steroids may prolong the course and may exacerbate the severity of many viral infections of the eye (including herpes simplex). Employment of a corticosteroid medication in the treatment of patients with a history of herpes simplex requires great caution.
The use of steroids after cataract surgery may delay healing and increase the incidence of bleb formation.
Carcinogenicity, Mutagenicity & Impairment of Fertility: Long-term animal studies have not been conducted to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of loteprednol etabonate. Loteprednol etabonate was not genotoxic in vitro in the Ames test, the mouse lymphoma tk assay or in a chromosome aberration test in human lymphocytes, or in vivo in the single-dose mouse micronucleus assay.
Treatment of male and female rats with up to 50 mg/kg/day and 25 mg/kg/day of loteprednol etabonate, respectively, (600 and 300 times the maximum clinical dose, respectively) prior to and during mating did not impair fertility in either gender.
Use in pregnancy: Pregnancy Category C: Loteprednol etabonate has been shown to be embryotoxic (delayed ossification) and teratogenic (increased incidence of meningocele, abnormal left common carotid artery and limb flexures) when administered orally to rabbits during organogenesis at a dose of 3 mg/kg/day (35 times the maximum daily clinical dose), a dose which caused no maternal toxicity. The no observed effect level (NOEL) for these effects was 0.5 mg/kg/day (6 times the maximum daily clinical dose).
Oral treatment of rats during organogenesis resulted in teratogenicity (absent innominate artery at ≥5 mg/kg/day doses, and cleft palate and umbilical hernia at ≥50 mg/kg/day) and embryotoxicity (increased post-implantation losses at 100 mg/kg/day and decreased fetal body weight and skeletal ossification with ≥50 mg/kg/day).
Treatment of rats with 0.5 mg/kg/day (6 times the maximum clinical dose) during organogenesis did not result in any reproductive toxicity. Loteprednol etabonate was maternally toxic (significantly reduced body weight gain during treatment) when administered to pregnant rats during organogenesis at doses ≥5 mg/kg/day.
Oral exposure of female rats to 50 mg/kg/day of loteprednol etabonate from the start of the fetal period through the end of lactation, a maternally toxic treatment regimen (significantly decreased body weight gain), gave rise to decreased growth and survival, and retarded development in the offspring during lactation. The NOEL for these effects was 5 mg/kg/day.
Loteprednol etabonate had no effect on the duration of gestation or parturition when administered orally to pregnant rats at doses up to 50 mg/kg/day during the fetal period.
Use in lactation: It is not known whether topical ophthalmic administration of corticosteroids could result in sufficient systemic absorption to produce detectable quantities in human milk. Systemic steroids appear in human milk and could suppress growth, interfere with endogenous corticosteroid production or cause other untoward effects. Caution should be exercised when Lotemax is administered to a nursing woman.
Use in children: Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established.