Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 4-11, 1999

Volume 28, Number 7

Drug for glaucoma will be tested
in clinical trial at the medical school

A drug that may protect the eye from damage caused by glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness around the world, soon will be administered at the School of Medicine in a clinical trial.

The study will look at whether the drug memantine is effective in protecting the optic nerve from damage by glaucoma or other mechanisms, according to Dr. M. Bruce Shields, chair of the department of ophthalmology and visual science at the Yale Eye Center.

"Glaucoma has been treated for 150 years, medically and surgically, but all of our treatments have been for one purpose, to lower the pressure in the eye," Shields says. "We know that elevated pressure is the main cause of optic nerve damage, which is what leads to the blindness.

"We also have realized for many years that lowering the pressure alone does not always prevent the progressive loss of vision in some patients," he adds. "So this new concept of medication, called neuro-protective agents, are really medicines that have nothing to do with the pressure in the eye, but have a direct effect on protecting the optic nerve from damage caused by other problems."

Memantine has been available since the early 1960s and has been used primarily as an anti-viral agent. It later was found to have some benefit for certain neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, as well as for some types of dementia.

Shields says the study will be conducted at many sites around the country. A New Haven ophthalmologist, Dr. David Silverstone, also is participating in the study.

To take part in the clinical trial, patients must already have glaucoma. One third will be given 10 milligrams of memantine, one third will be administered 20 milligrams, and one third will be given a placebo.

"The study will go on for four years and during that time what we will be watching to see is if the treated patients have a reduced incidence of loss of vision,"
Shields says.

Some patients who are being treated at the Yale Eye Center have already been accepted into the study. Other patients can be referred by their ophthalmologists, or they can call and inquire about the clinical trial.

Interested persons can call Shield's office at (203) 785-2020 and ask to speak either to the doctor or Ann Leone, a nurse technician and clinical coordinator, or they can call Silverstone's office at (203) 789-2020.

There is no charge for the medication and patients will be reimbursed for transportation, parking and meal costs, if applicable.

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. . . In the News . . .

Campus Notes