[Clinical trial of Timoptic used for inhibiting the development of keratoconus]

A 0.5% Timoptic was used in 37 patients with a keratoconus during 2 weeks, one drop twice a day to both eyes; the day measurements of the intraocular pressure were subsequently repeated. The mean upper value of P after drops was 14.595 +/- 2.522 mm Hg for the R. eye and 14.139 +/- 2.113 mm Hg for the L. eye. The mean day oscillations in the R. eye amounted 3.378 +/- 1.441 mm Hg and in the L. eye 3.333 +/- 1.042 mm Hg. The differences in daily oscillations of P before and after drops were statistically significant. After excluding from the analysis 4 patients who did not react to Timoptic one compared 12 eyes in which the objective improvement was evident with 21 eyes without improvement. These two groups differed in respect of daily oscillations of P before application of the drops--p less than 0.004.