Brinzolamide Health Dictionary

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Brinzolamide: From 1 Different Sources

n. a *carbonic anhydrase inhibitor used to reduce intraocular pressure in the treatment of *glaucoma when beta blockers are not effective or appropriate: it decreases the production of aqueous humour. It may cause local irritation and taste disturbance.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Acetazolamide

Acetazolamide is a sulphonamide drug which acts by inhibiting the ENZYME, carbonic anhydrase. This enzyme is of great importance in the production of acid and alkaline secretions in the body. Acetazolamide is sometimes used as a second-line drug for partial seizures in EPILEPSY. It also has a diuretic action (see DIURETICS) and is used to treat GLAUCOMA. The drug has a range of side-effects. Related agents include dorzolamide and brinzolamide, used as eye-drops in patients resistant to beta blockers or who have contraindications to them.... acetazolamide

Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitor

any one of a class of drugs that act by blocking the action of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase. This enzyme greatly speeds up the reaction between carbon dioxide and water to form carbonic acid, a compound needed for the production of many of the body’s secretions. Carbonic anhydrase is present in high concentrations in the eye, kidneys, stomach lining, and pancreas. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors reduce the production of aqueous humour in the eye and are used mainly in treating *glaucoma. They include *acetazolamide, *brinzolamide, and *dorzolamide.... carbonic anhydrase inhibitor

Glaucoma

n. a condition of the *optic nerve in which a loss of retinal nerve fibres leads to loss of vision. The most significant and manageable risk factor is the pressure in the eye. There are two types of primary glaucoma (in which no other ocular disease is present): acute and chronic simple. In acute (or angle-closure) glaucoma, there is an abrupt rise in pressure due to sudden closure of the angle of the anterior chamber between the cornea and iris where aqueous humour usually drains from the eye. This is accompanied by sudden and severe pain with marked blurring of vision associated with inflammation of the anterior segment. In the more common chronic simple (or open-angle) glaucoma, the pressure increases gradually, usually without any symptoms, and the visual loss is insidious. The same type of visual loss may also occur in eyes with a normal pressure: this is called normal (or low-tension) glaucoma. Primary glaucoma occurs increasingly with age and is an important cause of blindness. It is frequently hereditary. Secondary glaucoma may occur when other ocular disease impairs the normal circulation of the aqueous humour and causes the intraocular pressure to rise.

In all types of glaucoma the aim of the treatment is to reduce the intraocular pressure. Drugs used for this purpose include beta blockers (e.g. timolol, levobunolol, carteolol), carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (e.g. brinzolamide, dorzolamide), alpha-receptor stimulants (e.g. apraclonidine, brimonidine), and prostaglandin analogues (e.g. latanoprost, bimatoprost, travaprost, tafluprost). They can be used in the form of eye drops. If the medical treatment is ineffective, surgery may be performed to allow the aqueous humour to drain from the eye in sufficient quantities to enable the pressure to return to normal. Such operations may either make a new channel through which the aqueous drains (known as drainage or filtering operations) or involve the insertion of a narrow tube (tube surgery).... glaucoma


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