Aim To evaluate the ocular surface symptoms and signs associated with preservative-free 0.0015% tafluprost in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension (OHT).

Methods Prospective non-interventional, multicentre, observational study on 134 patients, naive or on previous treatment with another prostaglandin analogue. In each visit (V1 baseline visit, V2 at 1 month and V3 at 3 months), patients evaluated five ocular surface symptoms as: absent, mild, moderate and severe. Parallelly, the ophthalmologist assessed the tear break-up time, keratitis, conjunctival hyperaemia, blepharitis, Schirmer test and tear meniscus.

Results Patients with OHT (n=71, 53%) experienced a statistically significant improvement of all symptoms: stinging/burning/irritation, itching, foreign body sensation, tearing and dryness sensation at V3, while glaucoma patients improved all symptoms at both V2 and V3. In patients with OHT, all signs except Schirmer test improved and the decrease in hyperaemia was statistically significant. Eyes with glaucoma ameliorated the keratitis, hyperaemia and tear meniscus at V2 and V3 and the break-up time and blepharitis at V3. In the subset of patients with previous treatment (n=79, 58.9%), patients with OHT presented significant improvement of hyperaemia, yet the rest of signs did not decrease significantly or remained unchanged, while in patients with glaucoma all signs improved significantly at both visits. The intraocular pressure (IOP) drop in naive eyes was 22.2% (24.7–19.7 mm Hg) in OHT and 29.5% (33.7–25.3 mm Hg) in glaucoma eyes. In previously treated eyes, no statistically significant change in IOP was found.

Conclusion Preservative-free tafluprost is a well tolerated hypotensive agent that can be used in eyes with surface problems and in naive eyes.