Analysis Of Effectiveness And Cost Of Cosopt, The Combination Solution Of Dorzolamide Hydrochloride And Timolol Maleate.

Open-angle glaucoma is a chronic disease characterized by optic nerve damage and visual field loss, often with elevated intraocular pressure (lOP). Lowering the lOP is recognized to delay the progression of optic nerve damage and visual field loss. Currently, lowering the lOP is the only medical treatment for open angle glaucoma. The most common first-line therapy for glaucoma treatment is topical beta-blockers. The topical beta-blocker timolol maleate is the most widely prescribed treatment. 1 Studies report a mean percent reduction in lOP by 25 percent for timolol maleate. 2 Since glaucoma is a chronic progressive disease, the majority of patients eventually require additional medication to control lOP. During long term beta-blocker therapy ,
the lOP is not adequately controlled in 28 to 66 percent of patients. 3 Dorzolamide hydrochloride, a topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, is commonly prescribed as adjunctive therapy to timolol.