Four factors can help determine best initial glaucoma therapy

ATLANTA — The severity of glaucoma at diagnosis, the desired efficacy and safety of treatment, compliance and quality of life issues are four factors that can assist physicians in selecting the most effective initial glaucoma treatment, a speaker said here.

"Years ago, initial therapy for glaucoma did not require much thought," because there were fewer options, Barbara A. Smit, MD, PhD, said at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. "Today, there are many more options that are available," she said. "Not only do we have many more medications, but lasers and surgery, as well, have all been studied as primary therapy."

Each treatment option offers different advantages and disadvantages, Dr. Smit said. She said while medical therapy has been the first-line treatment for glaucoma for many years, each patient's case should be assessed on an individual basis, using the four factors, to achieve the best treatment.

She emphasized that there is no single answer when selecting initial glaucoma therapy.