Ophthalmic drops causing coma in an infant.

A 1-month-old infant with Peters anomaly had recurrent episodes of unresponsiveness, hypotension, hypotonia, hypothermia, and bradycardia. An extensive medical evaluation determined these episodes to be caused by brimonidine, an anti-glaucoma agent. There is the potential for serious toxic effects from the systemic absorption of topically applied ophthalmic agents in children.