Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of replacing current dual therapy with latanoprost 0.005% monotherapy in glaucoma patients.
Methods: This multinational, prospective, randomized study comprised 466 patients with primary open angle glaucoma. A total of 315 patients discontinued current therapy and received latanoprost monotherapy while 115 patients continued on current dual therapy for 3 months.
Results: 29 patients receiving latanoprost were withdrawn from the study, 8 patients due to adverse events, 5 patients for non-medical reasons, and 10 patients due to uncontrolled IOP. Of the remaining patients who completed the study period and including patients withdrawn due to uncontrolled IOP, 91% succeeded in reaching the predefined IOP criteria. For those patients who remained on dual therapy, a comparable success rate of 93% was observed. Replacement of dual therapy with latanoprost resulted in a mean IOP change of - 0.8 mm from a mean diurnal IOP of 17.9 mmHg. A mean IOP change of - 0.2 mmHg from a mean diurnal IOP of 17.2 mmHg was found in patients who continued on current dual therapy.
Conclusion: These results suggest that dual topical glaucoma therapy with multiple dosing can in many cases be replaced by latanoprost monotherapy with once daily administration. Moreover, once daily dosing may be advantageous for glaucoma patients as it simplifies the dosage regimen and may increase compliance. Universitдts-Augenklink Hamburg, Martini-Str. 52, Germany