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. 2000 Feb;84(2):181–185. doi: 10.1136/bjo.84.2.181

Comparison of the intraocular pressure lowering effect of latanoprost and a fixed combination of timolol-pilocarpine eye drops in patients insufficiently controlled with β adrenergic antagonists

J Nordmann 1, M Soderstrom 1, J Rouland 1, F Malecaze 1, F the 1, S the 1
PMCID: PMC1723381  PMID: 10655195

Abstract

AIMS—To compare the effect on intraocular pressure (IOP) of latanoprost monotherapy and timolol-pilocarpine in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension with inadequately controlled IOP on topical β adrenergic antagonists.
METHODS—This was a multicentre, randomised, observer masked, 6 week study performed in France and Sweden. 23 centres enrolled 237 patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension and an IOP of at least 22 mm Hg on treatment with topical β adrenergic antagonists, alone or in combination. After a 21 day run in period on timolol 0.5% twice daily, patients were randomised either to latanoprost 0.005% once daily or to a fixed combination of timolol-pilocarpine twice daily. Changes in mean diurnal IOP from the baseline to the 6 week visit were determined with an analysis of covariance.
RESULTS—Mean diurnal IOP was statistically significantly decreased from baseline in both groups (p<0.001). Switching to latanoprost treatment reduced mean diurnal IOP by 5.4 (SEM 0.3) mm Hg (ANCOVA −22%) and switching to timolol-pilocarpine treatment reduced mean diurnal IOP by 4.9 (0.4) mm Hg (−20%). Blurred vision, decreased visual acuity, decreased twilight vision, and headache were statistically significantly more frequent in the timolol-pilocarpine group.
CONCLUSIONS—Latanoprost monotherapy was at least as effective as fixed combination timolol-pilocarpine twice daily treatment in reducing mean diurnal IOP in patients not adequately controlled on topical β adrenergic antagonists. Latanoprost was better tolerated than timolol-pilocarpine regarding side effects. These results indicate that a switch to latanoprost monotherapy can be attempted before combination therapy is initiated.



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Figure 1  .

Figure 1  

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Diurnal IOP reduction at 6 weeks (mean (SEM)) compared with baseline.

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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