Comparison of travoprost and bimatoprost plus timolol fixed combinations in open-angle glaucoma patients previously treated with latanoprost plus timolol fixed combination

PURPOSE: To compare the ocular hypotensive effect of bimatoprost plus timolol and travoprost plus timolol fixed combinations in glaucoma patients whose disease was controlled but had not reached their target intraocular pressure (IOP) with the fixed combination of latanoprost plus timolol. DESIGN: A 2 × 3-month, multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-masked, cross-over clinical trial. METHODS: Eighty-nine open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients were included. After a 6-week run-in period with latanoprost plus timolol, patients were randomized to either travoprost plus timolol or bimatoprost plus timolol for 3 months. Patients then switched to the opposite therapy for 3 additional months. The primary end point was the comparison of mean daily IOP after 3 months of each treatment. RESULTS: At baseline, mean IOP was 16.5 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, 16.0 to 17.0 mm Hg) with treatment with latanoprost plus timolol. Both bimatoprost plus timolol and travoprost plus timolol statistically significantly reduced the mean IOP from baseline (P < .0001). Mean IOP at month 3 was statistically significantly lower in the bimatoprost plus timolol group compared with the travoprost plus timolol group (14.7 mm Hg [95% confidence interval, 14.3 to 15.3 mm Hg] vs 15.4 mm Hg [95% confidence interval, 15.0 to 15.9 mm Hg]; P = .0041). IOP was lower during bimatoprost plus timolol treatment at all time points and statistical significance was reached at 8 am, 11 am, and 5 pm, but not at 2 pm and 8 pm. Both treatments showed similar tolerability profile. CONCLUSIONS: Bimatoprost plus timolol and travoprost plus timolol can provide additional IOP-lowering effect in patients not fully controlled with latanoprost plus timolol. The observed additional IOP reduction was greater with bimatoprost plus timolol with a similar tolerability profile.