Restoring sensitivity to timolol after long-term drift in primary open-angle glaucoma.
In a prospective randomized single-masked study lasting 6 months, 39 eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma showing a long-term drift with 0.5% timolol were put on a "timolol holiday" lasting 30 or 60 days. Twenty-three of them were enrolled with dipivefrin 0.1% twice daily during the holiday. When timolol therapy was restored, the dipivefrin-treated group showed a more pronounced decrease of intraocular pressure (IOP) (8.2 +/- 1.5), whereas the IOP decrease in the nondipivefrin-treated group was lower (3.9 +/- 1.2) and of shorter duration (less than 60 days). Among the dipivefrin-treated group, the response to timolol was more prolonged in the eyes treated for 60 days: the IOP of these eyes was less than 23 mmHg throughout the follow-up.
Istituto di Oftalmologia, Università di Parma, Italy.
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Gandolfi
D000368:Aged; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D013999:Timolol / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D013999:Timolol; C015173:dipivefrin; D004837:Epinephrine