Guanethidine - adrenaline eye drops in glaucoma simplex. Pupil behaviour and response of intraocular pressure

In the study reported here, the relation between the dilatation of the pupil and the course of intraocular pressure (IOP) is examined in open angle glaucoma patients and in glaucoma suspects after topical administration of the combination of guanethidine 3% and adrenaline 0.5% in one eye drop (GA). By treating one eye with GA and leaving the fellow eye untreated on the same day, there was a symmetrical response of IOP, independent of the mydriasis in the treated eyes. It leads to the conclusion that the mydriatic response has no influence on the course of IOP. The physiological explantation for the symmetrical course of IOP in both treated and untreated fellow eyes seems to be a mediation by the bloodstream of GA to the eye which was left untreated.