APR 22, 2014
This retrospective study found that periorbitopathy is more common among patients taking bimatoprost compared to those taking latanoprost or travoprost.
The authors compared the frequency of prostaglandin-associated periorbitopathy among 105 patients using bimatoprost, latanoprost or travoprost. Subjects used one of the prostaglandins in one eye for more than one month. Fellow eyes served as controls.
Periorbitopathy occurred in 93.3 percent of the bimatoprost group, 41.4 percent in the latanoprost group and 70 percent in the travoprost group. Upper lid sulcus deepening was more common in the bimatoprost group, occurring in 80 percent of patients, compared to 45 percent of patients in the travoprost group and 15.7 percent in the latanoprost group.
With the exception of relatively young patients, periorbital fat loss was the most frequent finding among all prostaglandin-treated subjects. The frequency of milder changes (periorbital fat loss only, dermatochalasis involution, or both) was higher in the latanoprost group (62 percent) than in the travoprost (35.7 percent) and bimatoprost (7.1 percent) groups.
They write that the loss of the periorbital fat pad appears to be the initial sign of prostaglandin-associated periorbitopathy, but because they did not determine the exact time of the onset of periorbitopathy changes, it is unclear if this is the first sign in all patients.
They conclude that these results provide further clues about the possible evolution of prostaglandin-associated periorbitopathy, suggesting it is as frequent as other local side-effects among prostaglandin users and seems to be more severe in bimatoprost users. Careful, long-term assessment of patients using these drugs is needed to determine the true incidence and evolution of prostaglandin-associated periorbitopathy.