Forty-three patients (43 eyes) who were using latanoprost in the evening and carteolol HCl (CH) in the morning were switched to
latanoprost/carteolol fixed combination, once daily in the
morning.Researchers found IOP values recorded at 1 and 3 months after
switching from latanoprost and CH to the latanoprost/carteolol fixed
combination (LCFC) were not significantly different from those at
baseline.
Furthermore, they found no difference in the IOP values obtained using the LCFC according to the type of glaucoma, baseline IOP or number
of medications contained in the original regimen.
In addition, corneal epithelial defects were significantly reduced, and tear break-up time was significantly increased.Nineteen patients
said they missed doses with less frequency after switching to LCFC, and
29 patients rated the eye drop container as more user-friendly.
Thirty-three patients (80.5%) preferred LCFC, according to the study. – by Abigail Sutton.We’ve got great beer and poutine (just ask
the Google) and several excellent prostaglandin analog/beta-blocker
(PGA/BB) fixed combination (FC) drugs that play a prominent role in my
glaucoma practice.
Inoue and colleagues, using protocol very similar to routine clinical care, have arrived at conclusions that mirror those of prior
investigators: PGA/BB FC drugs lower IOP as well as the individual
constituents used concomitantly, have a favorable safety profile,
decrease ocular irritation and increase patient satisfaction.
In managing any chronic and initially asymptomatic disease, poor adherence is a prominent contributor to treatment failure: Drugs don’t
work for people who don’t take them. Cost, convenience and comfort are
integral. The latter two can, at least in part, be addressed through
leveraging FC; in fact, it is possible to prescribe drugs from four
classes, using as few as three or four drops from just two bottles, only
one of which is preserved with BAK (and at an extremely low
concentration, to boot).
Simplifying dosing schedules and minimizing iatrogenic complications encourage adherence and, in doing so, help control disease progression.
Fixed combinations, while not without limitations, are one means to
that end.
