Effect of 2% Levo-Rotary Epinephrine on the Intraocular Pressure of the Glaucomatous Eye

The use of epinephrine in the treatment or management of glaucoma has been known to ophthalmologists since the beginning of the century. It was not until Hamburger¹ popularized epinephrine, in 1923, that much was done in the matter of treating all glaucomas by this means. As a result of the indiscriminate use of "Glaucosan,"² introduced by Hamburger in 1925, and "Levo-Glaucosan"² in 1926, the drug fell into disrepute, primarily because of a lack of knowledge as to what is now known as the open- and closed-angle types of glaucoma. Hypertensive patients noted vertigo, tachycardia, and collapse, since the drug was employed in pledget, topical, retrobulbar, and ointment form, and it was not long before the popularity of this preparation waned. Recent study of the sympathomimetic amines^3,4 again produces evidence of the tension-lowering qualities of levo-epinephrine and explains its mode of action as due to a decrease