Purpose: A drug utilization trial was performed to investigate acute versus short-term effects
after switching or adding bimatoprost in open-angle glaucoma patients over a 3-
month observation period. Methods: One (1) eye was randomly chosen from 47 glaucomatous
patients (abnormal visual field and/or abnormal optic nerve and intraocular
pressure (IOP) above 21 mmHg without treatment). Only patients who did not reach the
target IOP with their ongoing treatment were recruited in this study. IOP was measured
at baseline, after 1 hour, and 2 hours from the first instillation and after 1 week, 1, and 3
months of treatment. Results: The IOP before bimatoprost administration was 20.16 ±
3.6 mmHg (mean ± standard deviation). There was no statistically significant decrease
of IOP after 1 hour (mean IOP, 19.96 ± 4.25 mmHg) and after 2 hours (mean IOP, 17.73 ±
3.24 mmHg). Statistically significant (p < 0.001) decreases after 1 week (mean IOP, 16.48
± 2.9 mmHg), after 1 month (mean IOP, 16.48 ± 2.9 mmHg) and after 3 months (mean
IOP, 16.15 ± 2.7 mmHg) were found. Conclusion: The results suggested that bimatroprost
had a significant acute effect on IOP in monotherapy, while no significant effect
was found when the therapy was switched or added. The effect for primary open-angle
glaucoma was very evident. There was no specific side effect attributable to combining
bimatoprost with any of the treatments in use.
