Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of bimatoprost/timolol fixed combination (Ganfort) in decreasing intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and uncontrolled secondary neovascular glaucoma (NG).
Material and methods: The study included 50 patients (51 eyes) with diabetes mellitus and sings of uncontrolled secondary NG, which was later confirmed by the results of ophthalmological assessment. All the patients were offered to change their IOP-lowering medications and if the new regimen is still ineffective--to undergo drainage surgery. Therefore they were switched to Ganfort once daily in the morning.
Results: After switching the therapy a decrease of intraocular pressure was observed in 100% of cases. In 72.5% of patients (37 eyes) the average IOP was almost 3 times lower than at the baseline and achieved target values (15-17 mm Hg), thus allowing to avoid surgical intervention. In 27.5% of patients (14 eyes), despite a significant decrease of IOP, surgical treatment was considered still necessary due to glaucoma progression and, therefore, drainage surgery was performed.
Conclusion: The IOP-lowering combination Ganfort (Allergan) can be used in patients with secondary neovascular glaucoma and diabetes mellitus as the treatment of choice. Even if target IOP is not achieved, Ganfort is still useful as a preoperative medication able to reduce postoperative hemorrhagic complications.