Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate if prostaglandin analogue (PGA) treatment in one eye has an effect on the intraocular pressure (IOP) of the untreated fellow eye.
Methods: :
Between 2004 and 2009, two hundred fifty nine patients of suspected normal tension glaucoma underwent a full diurnal IOP phasing. Thirty of these patients were subsequently put on a unilateral trail with a PGA, and a day diurnal IOP recording was carried out after 6 weeks. Full diurnal IOP phasing consisted of 8 IOP readings over 24 hours and day diurnal IOP recording consisted of 4 IOP readings between 8 am and 6 pm. To study the contra lateral effect of PGA, the IOP recordings of the untreated fellow eye obtained during the day diurnal were compared with IOPs at similar time points of the base line diurnal phasing.
Results: :
Mean (± standard deviation) IOP in the eye treated with PGA reduced from 17.07 ± 3.15 mm Hg to 13.73 ± 2.35 mm Hg (p<0.001); while the mean IOP in the untreated eye reduced from 16.44 ± 3.14 mm Hg at baseline to 14.8 ± 2.69 mm Hg 6 weeks following the other eye treatment with PGA (p=0.01). IOP fluctuation (range) also decreased in the contra lateral eye from 4.63 ± 2.13 to 3.23 ± 1.85 (p=0.01). The decrease in the IOP in the fellow eye was statistically significant at 8 am (2.72 mm Hg, p=0.003) and 11 am (2.29 mm Hg, p=0.01) and was not significant at 2 pm (1.38 mm Hg, p=0.10) and 5 pm (0.93 mm Hg, p=0.18). The amount of IOP reduction in the treated eye was significantly associated with the magnitude of contra lateral effect (β=0.69, p=0.008).
Conclusions: :
In glaucoma patients, uniocular PGA treatment significantly reduced the IOP in the untreated fellow eye.
Keywords: intraocular pressure