Experimental corticosteroid ocular hypertension in the rabbit.

Weekly subconjunctival injections of 4mg repository betamethasone, repeated over three weeks, produced a sustained increase of intraocular pressure (IOP) in 96% of the treated rabbits. Treatment was generally well tolerated and important systemic toxic effects were present only in a few animals. The ocular hypertension so obtained was constant, well reproducible and sensitive to antiglaucoma drugs. The authors believe they have developed an animal model which is very suitable for testing the pressure-lowering effect of drugs and for other studies on ocular hypertension and glaucoma.