[Long-term therapy with timolol for three years (author's transl)]

Abstract

From an original group of 36 Patients (15 with relatively advanced chronic open-angle glaucoma and 21 with ocular hypertension) 21 (seven glucoma and 14 ocular hypertension) were well controlled with Timolol alone or in combination with other pressure-lowering drugs after a three years' observation period. Dropouts occurred mainly in the first half of the treatment period. In most of these cases a glaucoma operation was necessary; more rarely, Timolol was discontinued due to intolerance. The overall success rate of 40% with Timolol alone (14 out of 36 patients) is lower than the 60% to 70% found in other long-term studies. If one considers only the results in the ocular hypertension group, the figure of 68% is more in line with the aforementioned results. In the light of similar studies it appears essential to take into account not only the total number of patients treated but also the degree of severity of the glaucoma. In severe glaucoma Timolol alone is seldom effective enough.