Efficacy and safety of latanoprost in eyes with uveitic glaucoma.

BACKGROUND: To compare the efficacy and safety of latanoprost against a fixed combination of dorzolamide and timolol in eyes with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) or glaucoma and anterior or intermediate uveitis. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients with anterior or intermediate uveitis and elevated IOP or glaucoma presented or followed up in the Ocular Inflammation and Immunology Service of General Hospital of Athens were randomly assigned to receive treatment either with latanoprost (30) or with dorzolamide/timolol (28). The main outcome measures were inflammatory relapses and IOP response to treatment. RESULTS: Ten patients (34%) in the latanoprost group and sixteen patients (57%) in the dorzolamide/timolol group experienced relapses of anterior uveitis (p = 0.93). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in respect of inflammatory relapses (p = 0.21). Twenty-one patients were followed up before starting latanoprost. The number of recurrences of anterior uveitis per patient per year before treatment with latanoprost was 0.82 +/- 1.2. The rate of relapses per patient per year after starting latanoprost was 0.39 +/-0.7 for these patients (p = 0.038). After 1 year of treatment, intraocular pressure was dropped from 27.8 +/- 8.4 mmHg to 18.6 +/- 5.3 mmHg (p < 0.001) in the latanoprost group and from 28.2 +/-8.1 mmHg to 22.6 +/-10.1 mmHg (p < 0.001) in the dorzolamide/timolol group. Four patients during treatment with latanoprost and five patients during treatment with dorzolamide/timolol developed macular edema. CONCLUSION: Latanoprost is safe and equally effective to a fixed combination of dorzolamide and timolol in the treatment of uveitic glaucoma.

Comparison of dynamic contour tonometry with Goldmann applanation tonometry in glaucoma practice.

PURPOSE: To compare intraocular pressure (IOP) readings taken using dynamic contour tonometry (DCT) with IOP readings taken with Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) in eyes with glaucoma or ocular hypertension. METHODS: The present study included 100 eyes in 100 patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension. After pachymetry DCT and GAT were performed. Intraocular pressures as measured with DCT and GAT were compared with one another and with central corneal thickness (CCT). RESULTS: Mean DCT IOP measurements (20.1 +/- 4.3 mmHg) were significantly (p < 0.001) higher than GAT IOP values (17.9 +/- 4.7 mmHg). The mean difference between DCT and GAT measurements was 2.1 mmHg (range -3.4 to 9.7 mmHg). The difference followed a normal distribution. Measurements made with DCT and GAT correlated significantly with one another (Spearman's rho = 0.761, p < 0.001). Neither GAT nor DCT measurements showed a significant correlation with CCT (537 +/- 39 microm, range 458-656 microm). Multivariate regression analysis has shown that the difference between DCT and GAT is influenced significantly by ocular pulse amplitude (r = -0.334, p = 0.001) and it is not influenced by CCT (r = -0.106, p = 0.292). CONCLUSIONS: In eyes with glaucoma or ocular hypertension, DCT facilitates suitable and reliable IOP measurements which are in good concordance with GAT readings. Variation in CCT cannot by itself explain the differences in measurements taken with DCT and GAT in a number of eyes.