Comparative Effect of Latanoprost/Timolol Fixed Combination and Unfixed Combination in Patients with Ocular Hypertension Attending Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria

Abstract

Studies comparing the effect of fixed and unfixed combination of latanoprost and timolol are limited globally and nearly absent among the Nigerian population. This study therefore compares the effect of fixed and unfixed combination of latanoprost and timolol on intraocular hypertension among Nigerian population. The study was a randomized control trial consisting of 102 patients with ocular hypertension who received latanoprost/timolol fixed combination (n=48) and latanoprost/timolol unfixed combination (n=54) for medical reasons. Follow-up visits over 30 weeks was scheduled for 2 weeks from entry date and thereafter every 4 weeks for the remaining 28 weeks making a total of 9 clinic visitations. During the period of the study, the ophthalmologists followed usual care routines and intraocular pressures were recorded while also observing adverse events and evaluating efficacy, safety, tolerability and compliance. Overall, there was 47.73% reduction of intraocular pressure with fixed combination of latanoprost/timolol as against 43.26% reduction with unfixed combination. The greatest reduction impacts were observed two weeks after commencing treatment (-8.27mmHg and -5.74mmHg for fixed and unfixed combinations respectively) and then efficacy reduces progressively for both drugs. This study showed that latanoprost and timolol combinations are effective for intraocular hypertension. However, fixed combination was observed to be more effective compared to unfixed combination at least among Nigerian population.