title: Perspectives in the medical treatment of glaucoma.
abstract: Many advances in medical therapy for chronic glaucoma have taken place in the past few years that have altered previous concepts of stepwise medical therapy for glaucoma. beta-adrenergic blockers are still the most common medicine prescribed as monotherapy. However, latanoprost and brimonidine are often given as monotherapy as well as early adjunctive therapy. In addition, newer treatments that are used as early adjunctive therapy are dorzolamide, brinzolamide, apraclonidine, and the combination products, consisting of dorzolamide/timolol maleate and pilocarpine/timolol maleate. Older adjunctive treatments are now often prescribed as late adjunctive therapy including pilocarpine, epinephrine compounds, and acetazolamide. The extent of maximum tolerated medical therapy and the decision to perform either laser or conventional filtration surgery depend on the physician's judgment and on the patient's needs and preferences. In the future, newer medical therapies that may protect the health of the optic nerve directly could be developed including blood flow-based, neuroprotective, and genetically based agents.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Research Corporation, Charleston, SC 29412-2464, USA.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001337:Autonomic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002257:Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D001337:Autonomic Agents; D002257:Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents