The relationship between allergic conjunctivitis due to brimonidine and systemic allergic disease in glaucoma patients

Purpose: Several different topical eye drop medications are used to lower the intraocular pressure of glaucoma patients. Among them, 0.1% brimonidine tartrate is commonly used and accompanies allergic conjunctivitis as a side effect. This study determined the correlation between the severity of allergic conjunctivitis arising from brimonidine eye drop use and systemic allergic disease. Methods: A case report study of 63 selected patients diagnosed with open-angle glaucoma or normal-tension glaucoma, and developing allergic conjunctivitis due to brimonidine usage was conducted. The study surveyed patients with newly diagnosed allergic conjunctivitis in terms of allergic rhinitis, asthma, and urticaria symptoms, and a slit lamp examination was used to determine the severity of allergic conjunctivitis in the clinic, using a novel scoring system to establish correlations of interest. Results: There was no correlation between asthma and the severity of allergic conjunctivitis (r = -0.095, p = 0.461). Allergic rhinitis showed no significant correlation with the severity of allergic conjunctivitis (r = 0.117, p = 0.361), and urticaria displayed no significant correlation with allergic conjunctivitis (r = -0.110, p = 0.389). We found no correlation in glaucoma patients between brimonidine eye drop use and the severity of allergic conjunctivitis. Conclusions: Systemic allergic disease was not related to the severity of allergic conjunctivitis arising from the use of brimonidine eye drops, indicating that the use of these eye drops can effectively lower intra-ocular pressure even if the patient suffers from systemic allergic disease.