A clinical trial with Piloplex--a new long-acting pilocarpine compound: preliminary report

A clinical comparison of the effect of Piloplex (an emulsion containing a new pilocarpine polymer compound) to that of pilocarpine hydrochloride 2% q.i.d.hloride on the intraocular pressure (IOP) was performed on 93 eyes of 51 open-angle glaucoma cases. Clinical studies showed that Piloplex produced a prolonged therapeutic effect, this being consistent with the slow release pattern it has displayed during in vitro experiments. Comparison of diurnal IOP measurements of 84 eyes have shown that when treated with Piloplex, 11 b.i.d., 58 eyes (69%) were under control (IOP values less than 20 mm Hg), whereas only 34 of these 84 eyes (40.5%) were under control when treated with pilocarpine hydrochloride 2% q.i.d. The overall mean diurnal IOP value of the 84 eyes during the treatment with Piloplex, 11 b.i.d., was lower by 2.89 mm Hg (P less than 0.005) than the overall mean diurnal IOP of the same eyes while treated with pilocarpine hydrochloride 2% q.i.d.