Objective: The objective of this review was to evaluate different measures of efficacy of the intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering lipid class agents bimatoprost, latanoprost and travoprost in the treatment of primary open angle glaucoma. Study arms of timolol in trials including the above mentioned lipid class drugs were also included.
Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for randomized clinical trials including one or more of the lipid class drugs bimatoprost, latanoprost and travoprost. The study results were pooled, and the simple, weighted IOP-lowering efficacy was compared among the lipid class drugs and timolol, where data were available. Efficacy parameters were reviewed, including mean reduction of IOP and percentage of patients achieving different levels of IOP.
Results: 161 articles were identified of which 42 were included in the analysis. A total of 9295 patients participated in the included trials. Based on all studies, timolol on average had a weighted mean IOP reduction of 22.2%, while latanoprost, travoprost and bimatoprost had a weighted mean IOP reduction of 26.7%, 28.7% and 30.3%, respectively. Analysis of target achievement to various IOP levels shows that bimatoprost seems more efficacious than latanoprost. The direct comparisons (head-to-head studies) also show that bimatoprost is the most efficacious treatment, however it is not conclusive whether latanoprost or travoprost is better in reducing IOP.
Conclusions: This review shows that bimatoprost seems to be the most efficacious treatment in lowering IOP. Head-to-head studies confirm this.