Pharmacotherapy of intraocular pressure: part I. Parasympathomimetic, sympathomimetic and sympatholytics.

Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) has been recognized as the major risk factor for the development of glaucoma and a wide range of options are now available to reduce it: medical treatment, laser, filtering, or cyclodestructive surgery (alone or in combination). All these modalities act by decreasing eye pressure and, thereby, protecting the optic nerve head from a mechanic direct and/or vascular indirect insult. Topical medical therapy represents the first-choice treatment and, in most cases, it effectively controls IOP, avoiding the occurrence of further optic nerve damage. All medications lower IOP in two main ways: decreasing the production of aqueous humour or by increasing its outflow from the eye. Consequently, antiglaucoma drugs either suppress aqueous humour formation (β-adrenergic antagonists, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, and alpha-2-adrenergic agonists) or raise aqueous humour outflow throughout the conventional (e.g., pilocarpine) or uveoscleral (prostaglandin FP receptor agonists, and pro...