Question

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 18, 2004

I am doing my neonatal assessment for clinical, and I can not find anywhere what the red reflex is. Can anyone please help me? :uhoh21: Thank you so much!

6. Red reflex.

The red reflex test is used to screen for abnormalities of the back of the eye (posterior segment) and opacities in the visual axis, such as a cataract or corneal opacity. An ophthalmoscope held close to the examiner's eye and focused on the pupil is used to view the eyes from 12 to 18 inches away from the subject's eyes. To be considered normal, the red reflex of the 2 eyes should be symmetrical. Dark spots in the red reflex, a blunted red reflex on 1 side, lack of a red reflex, or the presence of a white reflex (retinal reflection) are all indications for referral to an ophthalmologist.

Concern has been expressed recently that diagnosis of serious ocular conditions, including retinoblastoma and congenital cataract, in which early treatment is essential for future ocular and systemic health, often is not made sufficiently early to minimize potential consequences of those conditions. This concern has led to consideration of legislation in several states (a) mandating early pupil-dilated red reflex examinations in all neonates or very young infants.

Although in infants, pupils are easily dilated using various agents, significant complications have been sporadically reported with all commercially available dilating agents, including sympathomimetic agents like phenylephrine and anticholinergic agents like cyclopentolate hydrochloride and tropicamide. These complications include elevated blood pressure and heart rate, (2) urticaria, (3) cardiac arrhythmias, (4) and contact dermatitis. (5,6) However, pupillary dilation has been performed routinely for many years in almost all new patients seen in most pediatric ophthalmology offices, with no complications seen for years at a time, so this procedure appears to be very safe when performed in an office setting on infants older than 2 weeks. Similarly, premature infants' pupils are often dilated in the neonatal intensive care unit without significant complication, so dilation appears to be relatively safe even in very young infants.

From Pediatrics, May 2002.

This is just an extract from the entire article. To see the article in its entirety click on the following link:

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0950/5_109/86168804/p1/article.jhtml

hope this helps!

proud2basn · Feb 18, 2004

Thank you so much Deb! I looked forever and couldn't find anything!

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 18, 2004

you are more than welcome.