Novel Approaches for Topical Delivery of Acetazolamide

lent cause of visual impairment and blindness in the United States, after cataracts and macular degeneration from aging. Glaucoma is a progressive disease that causes optic-nerve head damage. Open-angle glaucoma affects 0.5% of the total US population but affects a much higher percentage (about 3%) in people aged 70 and older (1,2). Glaucoma is characterized chiefly by an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP) that, if sufficiently high and persistent, can damage the optic disk at the juncture of the optic nerve and retina, which can lead to irreversible blindness (3). IOP is the only undisputed risk factor in glaucoma that can be identified and treated. The goal of the treatment is to lower IOP to a level at which damage of the optic nerve ceases to progress (4). Other risk factors of glaucoma are diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and myopia (5). Glaucoma can be classified according to the reason for poor aqueous outflow such as open-angle, closed-angle, and congenital glaucoma. Each of these categories is further subdivided as primary and secondary types. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common type with 90% of glaucoma patients suffering from it. POAG is insidious in onset and shows a slow, progressive pathology unlike closed-angle glaucoma in which the appearance of symptoms is rapid and dramatic.