Comparison of the effectiveness and safety of travoprost and latanoprost for the management of open‑angle glaucoma given as an evening dose

Abstract

As intraocular pressure (IOP) is primarily higher in the morning, an evening dose of prostaglandin analogs is typically used as monotherapy to decrease IOP in patients with open-angle glaucoma. Travoprost (TV) has reported efficacy in treating open-angle glaucoma; however, the safety and efficacy may be different compared with that for latanoprost (LT). The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness and safety of an evening dose of TV compared with that of LT in treating open-angle glaucoma. Data including IOP, results of lid and slit-lamp examination and ophthalmoscopy, as well as adverse effects in 250 affected eyes from patients with open-angle glaucoma who received either TV (n=89) or LT (n=161) once in the evening for 3-months were included in the analyses. At the end of treatment, TV (23.45±1.52 vs. 19.15±1.01 mmHg; P<0.0001) and LT (23.93±2.11 vs. 19.45±1.11 mmHg; P<0.0001) successfully lowered the IOP. In addition, there was no significant difference in the reduction of IOP values at the end of treatment between the two groups (P= 0.120). Furthermore, there were no adverse effects on visual acuity (P>0.05), except for non-visual acuity, for example hyperemia (P<0.0001 for both groups), while there was a significant increase in the number of patients with dry eyes receiving TV (P= 0.020) and a significant increase with eyelid swelling (P= 0.036) and headache (P=0.037) in patients receiving LT. In conclusion, evening doses of TV and LT had the same efficacy and manageable adverse effects in the treatment of open-angle glaucoma (level of evidence, 3).

Headache associated with travoprost

“…Earlier reports have described headaches related to latanoprost administrations [11,28]. In Li et al's study involving 250 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma treated with travoprost or latanoprost once in the evening for 3 months, the frequency of headaches was higher among latanoprost-treated patients than that among travoprost-treated patients (two [2%] with travoprost and 15 [9%] with latanoprost) [29]. Travoprost contains three fluorine atoms [30], which made practitioners assume that it may yield different results.…”