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Study: Bimatoprost as effective as some combo therapies
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DANA POINT, Calif. — Use of bimatoprost monotherapy effectively lowered IOP in patients with glaucoma and avoided the side effects of combination therapy, according to the results of two studies presented here.
"Research found that the IOP-lowering efficacy of bimatoprost was equivalent to, or superior to, combinations of glaucoma medications,” said Scott M. Whitcup, MD, here at the Ocular Drug and Surgical Therapy Update Meeting, organized by Ocular Surgery News and supported by an educational grant from Allergan.
Combination drug therapy may cause additional complications in glaucoma patients, Dr. Whitcup added. “For these reasons, I advise using monotherapy when it accomplishes just as much as combination therapy and avoids the risky side effects,” he said.
In separate studies, Dr. Whitcup and others evaluated the safety and effectiveness of bimatoprost vs. two combination regimens: a combination of timolol and dorzolamide and a combination of latanoprost and a timolol gel-forming solution.
In the first study, bimatoprost 0.03% provided greater IOP lowering than timolol-dorzolamide at all follow-up points. IOP differences were statistically significant after 3 months of follow-up, at 8 a.m. (P < .0006) and at 10 a.m. (P < .014).
The second study found no significant difference in IOP-lowering between bimatoprost and the timolol-latanoprost combination. However, Dr. Whitcup found that 15.9% of patients who were issued the combination drugs reported conjunctival hyperemia, whereas 8.4% of bimatoprost patients experienced conjunctival hyperemia.
In both studies, burning, stinging and taste perversion occurred more frequently in the combination-therapy patients than in the monotherapy patients, Dr. Whitcup added.
SLACK Incorporated, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCCME) to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians, designated the Ocular Drug & Surgical Therapy Update meeting as an educational activity for up to 10 hours in category 1.