Influence of Treating Ocular Surface Disease on Intraocular Pressure in Glaucoma Patients Intolerant to Their Topical Treatments: A Report of 10 Cases.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of treating ocular surface disease (OSD) in patients with medically uncontrolled primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) associated with OSD.

METHODS

We compiled a retrospective observational case series of 10 patients with POAG that remained uncontrolled with topical treatments and who were referred for filtering glaucoma surgery. All patients underwent a complete assessment of their glaucoma and ocular surface for both eyes. The main treatments were change of topical antiglaucoma medications to preservative-free equivalents, removal of allergenic treatments or those identified as causing side effects, switch to another therapeutic class with the same efficacy but with a better safety profile and treatment of OSD.

RESULTS

After a minimum follow-up of 6 months, we observed improved ocular surface in all patients, associated with an intraocular pressure (IOP) decrease or stabilization even if some antiglaucoma medications were removed. The mean IOP significantly decreased from 23.75±9.98 mm Hg to 15.15±4.75 mm Hg (-36.2%; P=0.0001). The mean number of IOP-lowering medications was 3.7±1.06 at presentation and 2.8±0.63 after treatment (P=0.01). The Oxford score also decreased from a mean 1.7±0.67 to 0.4±0.51 (-76.5%; P<0.001). For 2 patients, IOP was not sufficiently reduced after treatment and they finally underwent filtering surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of OSD in POAG patients is very high, particularly in patients with uncontrolled glaucoma with multiple topical medications. Careful management of the ocular surface associated with a reduction of the toxicity of eyedrops may result in improvement of ocular surface health and better IOP control.