Br J Ophthalmol 1998;82:404-406 ( April )
Effects of latanoprost and dipivefrin, alone or combined, on
intraocular pressure and on blood-aqueous barrier permeability
I Widengård,
O Mäepea,
A Alm
Department
of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
Correspondence to: Albert Alm, MD, Department
of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, S-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
Accepted for publication 5 November 1997
AIM
To investigate the effect on intraocular
pressure (IOP) and aqueous flare of topical applications of latanoprost
and dipivefrin alone or combined.
METHODS22 patients with open angle glaucoma or
ocular hypertension were included in a 4 week open label study. Median
age was 68 years (range 50-79). They were allocated to either 2 weeks' treatment with once daily evening administration of latanoprost
monotherapy (50 µg/ml) or twice daily dipivefrin monotherapy (1 mg/ml), followed by 2 weeks' combination therapy with both drugs.
RESULTSLatanoprost alone reduced IOP from 19.3 (SD 1.4) to 14.8 (0.9) mm Hg (p<0.01). Addition of dipivefrin caused a
further reduction to 12.4 (0.9) mm Hg (p<0.01 compared with
latanoprost alone). In the group where the treatment started with
dipivefrin IOP was reduced from 22.3 (1.2) to 18.4 (1.0) mm Hg
(p<0.01) and with the combination to 14.9 (0.9) mm Hg (p<0.01). No
change in aqueous flare was observed with either drug, alone or in
combination. A slight increase in conjunctival hyperaemia was observed
when the two drugs were combined.
CONCLUSIONSLatanoprost and dipivefrin have an
additive effect on IOP and no clinically significant effect on the
permeability to proteins of the blood-aqueous barrier. This implies
that the two drugs can be a useful combination for the treatment of glaucoma.
Keywords:
aqueous flare;
intraocular pressure;
latanoprost;
dipivefrin
© 1998 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
