Patients taking Xalatan with ocular dryness or irritation for Ocular Hypertension

Although Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) has been used as a preservative for many years, many studies have demonstrated that prolonged use of topical ocular medications preserved with BAC may exacerbate sequelae associated with ocular surface disease. These effects could lead to the induction of subclinical inflammation,1 reduction of corneal epithelial barrier function, 2, 3 destabilization of the tear film, 4 cataract formation, 5 and an overall higher incidence of patient complaints of dryness and irritation. 4-6 This study will compare the efficacy of travoprost 0.004% without benzalkonium chloride (BAC) to that of the marketed formulation of latanoprost 0.005%with BAC in patients with dryness and irritation and open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. A double blind comparison will be used to assess whether those two different formulations will affect the tear breakup times, corneal staining, and baseline tear secretion tests in patients that are already taking latanoprost regularly with complaints of dryness and irritation. Patients included in the study will be given two bottles, one labeled for their right eye and the other for their left eye. Each pair of bottles will be identical in appearance and randomized with either latanoprost or travoprost and each pair will be assigned a number to aid in future analysis of the final results.