[Long-term efficacy and safety of combined topical antiglaucoma therapy--timolol & unoprostone vs. betaxolol & unoprostone].

PURPOSE

To evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of treatment combining topical beta-blockers and isopropyl unoprostone in primary open-angle glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma patients.

METHODS

A prospective, open-label, parallel-group clinical comparison trial was performed to evaluate efficacy and safety of treatment combining 0.5% betaxolol and 0.12% isopropyl unoprostone (B&U) or 0.5% timolol and 0.12% isopropyl unoprostone (T&U). Forty eyes of 40 patients, which were matched in the aging and the stage of glaucomatous visual field defect, were studied. Twenty patients were treated with B&U and the other twenty patients with T&U twice daily for 24 months. Goldmann intraocular pressure(IOP), Humphrey automated perimetry, blood pressure, heart rate, and peak flow were done every six months in each group.

RESULTS

In the B&U treatment group, mean IOP was 21.2 mmHg at baseline and 18.3 mmHg(p < 0.005) after 2 years, and in the T&U treatment group it was 21.1 mmHg at baseline and 17.9 mmHg (p < 0.001) after 2 years. The cases in which MD value decreased over 2 dB were one in the B&U treatment group and three in the T&U treatment group. The average MD value was significantly improved from -7.40 dB to -5.90 dB after 2 years with B&U treatment(p < 0.05), but there was no difference with the T&U treatment. None of the patients stopped combined therapy because of side effects, though heart rate was significantly reduced only in T&U treatment group.

CONCLUSION

Both combined treatments were effective for IOP reduction in glaucoma patients, and the data from the B&U treatment group suggested that B&U was more effective in maintaining visual field than T&U.