Latanoprost tolerated well as adjunct in long-term study

Latanoprost lowered IOP safely as an adjunctive medication in a 5-year study of patients with glaucoma whose pressures were uncontrolled on one medication, according to a Swedish study.

Albert Alm, MD, and colleagues at the University Hospital in Uppsala studied 380 patients using 0.005% latanoprost administered once daily for 5 years. All patients used latanoprost as an adjunctive therapy to other IOP-lowering drugs for the treatment of primary open-angle glaucoma or exfoliation glaucoma. These patients were enrolled in a 2-year extension of a 3-year open-label study. Iris pigmentation was recorded at baseline, and iris color change was noted at 14 subsequent visits.

Of the 380 patients, 127 (33.4%) developed increased iris pigmentation in one or both eyes after 5 years. “More than three-quarters of the patients with either green-brown or yellow-brown eyes were affected,” the authors wrote. For patients who developed iris pigmentation, onset occurred during the first 8 months in 74% and during the first 24 months in 94%.

Mean IOP reduction of 25% was maintained in 70% of eyes with no need for change in the medication regimen, the authors reported.

The study is published in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.