Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness throughout the world and its clinical evaluation, early diagnosis and treatment remain a challenge to the ophthalmologist even today. Traditionally glaucoma has been classified as primary and secondary forms with in this large group of glaucoma, the most common form is primary open angle glaucoma, characterized by:- 1)Raised intra ocular pressure above 21mmHg in at least one eye.2)Open, normal appearing anterior chamber angle.3)Typical glaucomatous visual field loss and or optic nerve head damage. In this short term study the intraocular pressure lowering efficacy of brimonidine tartrate 0.2% was found to be comparable with that of timolol maleate 0.5%. Brimonidine tartrate 0.2% provides an effective alternative to timolol maleate 0.5% in patients with a cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction. Visual field progression was seen to be static in patients who receive brimonidine tartrate 0.2%.There was no adverse events noted in patients who received brimonidine tartrate 0.2%. Patient Counseling along with education leaflets improved the patient compliance.
Key words: Glaucoma, Intraocular pressure, Timolol maleate, Brimonidine tartrate.