The ocular hypertensive effect of 0.25% fluorometholone in corticosteroid responders

Fourteen subjects known to be corticosteroid responders participated in a double-masked, randomized study comparing the ocular hypertensive effect of 0.25% fluorometholone suspension with that of 0.1% dexamethasone sodium phosphate. Subjects instilled one drop of fluorometholone in one eye and one drop of dexamethasone in the fellow eye four times daily for up to six weeks. Although both medications increased intraocular pressure, endpoint substitution analysis demonstrated that mean intraocular pressure increases from baseline in the eyes treated with fluorometholone were significantly lower than those in the eyes treated with dexamethasone at weeks 2, 4, and 6 (P ≤ .05). Also, mean maximum intraocular pressure was significantly lower in the eyes treated with fluorometholone than in the eyes treated with dexamethasone (P = .001). These results indicated that 0.25% fluorometholone is less likely to increase intraocular pressure in corticosteroid responders than 0.1% dexamethasone.