Periocular ulcerative dermatitis associated with gentamicin ointment prophylaxis in newborns.

A recent shortage of erythromycin ointment has resulted in the use of alternative agents for newborn ocular infection prophylaxis in the United States. We report a series of 26 newborns in whom a characteristic periocular ulcerative dermatitis developed after gentamicin ointment administration at 2 Philadelphia hospitals.