Evaluation of Contrast Sensitivity after Four Different Treatment Modalities Using OPTEC-Functional Vision Analyzer...

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the changes in contrast sensitivity (CS) after using the four different types of antiglaucoma eye drops in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) by OPTEC-functional vision analyzer (FVA).

In this prospective study, eighty patients (80 eyes) with POAG were randomly divided into four groups. The groups were randomly received timolol maleate 0.5%, travoprost 0.004%, dorzolamide 2%, and brimonidine tartrate 0.2%. The medications were used in the eye that was randomly selected. The CS was assessed before and 15 min after the intervention by the FVA. The paired t-test was used to compare the difference between before and after the intervention. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Fifteen minutes after the instillation of timolol maleate (Group A), the CS in three out of twenty patients at the spatial frequencies of 1.5, and 3 cycles per degree (cpd) was significantly decreased (P = 0.015). However, using travoprost (Group B) and dorzolamide (Group C), the CS in one out of twenty patients at low spatial frequencies (1.5 and 3 cpd) was decreased in the two groups, which was not statistically significant for these medications (P > 0.05). In Group D, after applying brimonidine tartrate, the CS in two out of twenty patients at the spatial frequency of 18 cpd was significantly decreased (P = 0.042).

Our study showed that CS values at low and high spatial frequencies after applying timolol and brimonidine eye drops are temporarily reduced in patients with POAG.