This webinar is part one of three in the webinar series on ophthalmic preparations. Part I, Principles of Ocular Pharmacology, reviews the basic principles of ocular pharmacology, including anatomy and pharmacokinetics. Part II, Formulation Considerations, surveys the art and science of compounding by reviewing the guidelines for sterile compounding and for preparing ophthalmic formulations. Finally, Part III, Compounding Opportunities, applies what was learned by looking at specific examples of compounding opportunities in both human and veterinary ophthalmology.

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

The eye is a small organ, only about 23 mm in axial diameter, and yet it is a complex structure composed of many different tissues working together with the brain to provide us vision. A solid understanding of the ocular anatomy and physiology is necessary prior to studying its pharmacotherapy. Thus, in this module, we will go into a review of the basic organization of the eye, after which we will examine the many different routes of drug administration available to the healthcare provider and the barriers encountered in ocular pharmacotherapy.

When discussing pharmacokinetics, we readily think about absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. The eye, however, is a dynamic organ with limited access; thus, little is known about the volumes of distribution across ocular tissues and drug metabolism. In this module, we will instead follow the path the drug takes once it is administered to the eye, and from here we will discuss the drug-specific and eye-specific factors that can affect drug pharmacokinetics.