Min Tet Cheong,¹ Maharajah Kodisvary,¹ Vengadasalam Selva Raja,¹ Yaakob Azhany,¹ Bin Alwi Zilfalil,² Ahmad Tajudin Liza-Sharmini^1
1Department of Ophthalmology, and ²Human Genome Centre, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Malaysia

Aim: To determine the prevalence of Malay patients with glaucoma who failed to respond to once-daily latanoprost monotherapy with a clinically meaningful reduction of intraocular pressure.
Methods: This was a retrospective, non-comparative study of 67 Malay patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated primary open angle glaucoma, ocular hypertension, or pseudoexfoliative glaucoma. Baseline intraocular pressure was documented from the clinical records of the selected patients. Evaluation of the intraocular pressure–lowering effect was documented after 3 months of treatment with once-daily latanoprost 0.005% monotherapy. Patients who achieved <20% intraocular pressure reduction after 3 months of treatment were considered non-responders.
Results: Topical latanoprost monotherapy provided significant intraocular pressure–lowering after 3 months of treatment (30.2%; 17.5 mm Hg [SD, 4.2 mm Hg]) compared with baseline (p < 0.001). Fourteen patients (20.9%) were non-responders according to the response criteria. These patients had a significantly higher intraocular pressure following treatment than responders (22.7 mm Hg [SD, 4.5 mm Hg] vs 16.1 mm Hg [SD, 2.8 mm Hg; p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in baseline intraocular pressure, age, and sex between responders and non-responders.
Conclusions: Topical latanoprost was proven to be an effective intraocular pressure–lowering antiglaucoma drug among Malay patients, with a small group of patients (20.9%) who were not responsive. It is important to identify this group of patients to maximise the intraocular pressure–lowering effect, minimise side effects, and promote compliance, thus delaying the progression of glaucoma.

Key words: Asian continental ancestry group, Glaucoma, open-angle, Latanoprost

Asian J Ophthalmol. 2008;10:118-122.