Ophthalmology. Glaucoma
March 10, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Adverse Events and Intraocular Pressure-Lowering Effect of Topical 0.5% Apraclonidine in Childhood Glaucoma: A Retrospective Single-Center Study.
Elhusseiny AM, Macaron MM, Hassan AK, Chang TC.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Topical 0.5% apraclonidine in childhood glaucoma showed few reported adverse events and a mean IOP reduction of about 5 mmHg at 6 months.
What was studied
Retrospective single-center case series of 108 eyes (90 patients) aged 18 or younger with childhood glaucoma treated with apraclonidine, median start age 5 years.
Key findings
- No local adverse events reported
- Systemic events in 2 patients: night terror and somnolence (1.1% each)
- Mean baseline IOP 30 mmHg; mean reduction 5.3 mmHg at 6 months (n=20 eyes)
- Median use duration 327 days
Clinical relevance
This suggests apraclonidine may be a tolerable adjunct in older children with glaucoma, though retrospective adverse event capture likely underestimates effects and IOP data were available for few eyes.
Who should care
Limitations
Retrospective design with likely under-reporting of adverse events; IOP outcome data available in only 20 eyes at 6 months.
Apraclonidine seemed reasonably safe and modestly effective as add-on therapy in pediatric glaucoma.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate the adverse events and intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering effects of topical apraclonidine in childhood glaucoma management.
Design
A retrospective case series.
Participants
Glaucoma patients aged ≤18 years who had received topical apraclonidine.
Methods
We extracted data on demographics, ocular and systemic adverse events, and IOP reduction. We defined and classified childhood glaucoma based on the Childhood Glaucoma Research Network criteria.
Main outcome measures
Adverse events and IOP-lowering effect of topical 0.5% apraclonidine.
Results
We included 108 eyes (90 patients). Glaucoma associated with non-acquired systemic disease or syndrome (36 eyes, 33.3%) was the most common diagnosis, followed by glaucoma following cataract surgery (29 eyes, 26.9%). The median age at glaucoma diagnosis was 32 months (interquartile range [IQR]: 5.3-68.5 months). The median age at the start of apraclonidine was 5 years (IQR = 3-9). The mean number of glaucoma medications on apraclonidine initiation was 2.7 ± 0.8. The median duration for apraclonidine use was 327 days (IQR = 42-665). There were no local adverse events reported, and only 2 cases of systemic adverse events (1 case [1.1%] of night terror and 1 case [1.1%] of somnolence). The mean baseline IOPs was 30 ± 4.6 mmHg (n = 85 eyes), with a mean IOP reduction of 5.3 mmHg at 6 months after use (n = 20 eyes).
Conclusions
Topical apraclonidine use demonstrated a low rate of reported adverse events and was associated with clinically meaningful IOP reduction as an adjunctive treatment in childhood glaucoma.
Financial disclosure(s)
The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
DOI
10.1016/j.ogla.2026.03.002
PMID
41819490
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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