β-Blocker–Induced Complications and the Patient With Glaucoma

Primary open-angle glaucoma is a condition associated with an elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) that is defined as optic degeneration with a slowly progressive deterioration of the visual field that may lead to blindness. More than 1 million Americans are being treated for glaucoma, and 80,000 are legally blind as a result of the disease. Glaucoma has its highest prevalence among the elderly population, with an incidence of approximately 1% in those older than 60 years, 3% in those between the ages of 70 and 80 years, and more than 9% in those older than 80 years. Treatment is directed at lowering high ocular pressures. The initial treatment, in most cases topical therapy with a beta-adrenergic blocking agent, reduces the IOP to help preserve sight. But such topical agents may also have adverse systemic effects on cardiac, pulmonary, central nervous system (CNS), and endocrine functions.