Article
Fixed-combination therapy has greater IOP-lowering effect
Author(s):
Charleston, SC-The brimonidine 0.2%/ timolol 0.5% fixed combination (Combigan, Allergan) administered twice daily is as effective as the concurrent use of brimonidine and timolol and is significantly more effective than monotherapy with either brimonidine three times daily or timolol twice daily, according to E. Randy Craven, MD, who presented his results at the American Glaucoma Society meeting here. The fixed combination is also superior to brimonidine monotherapy in long-term safety and the development of fewer ocular allergies, Dr. Craven said.
The fixed combinations of medications that lower IOP have a number of advantages, he explained.
He described two identical, 12-month, randomized, double-masked, multicenter, parallel-group, clinical trials that evaluated the fixed-combination drug. The data from the two studies were pooled for analysis.
In this study comparing the fixed combination with monotherapy, patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments:
