S: Sensory organs
ATC group S covers the sensory organs, in practice the eyes and ears: eye preparations, ear preparations, and products used for both.
Drugs applied to the eye and the ear.
In 1977, Zimmerman and Kaufman gave single doses of timolol (S01ED01) at four strengths to 20 patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma. Every strength, down to 0.1%, lowered the pressure inside the eye (intraocular pressure) for at least 24 hours. They proposed timolol as a once-a-day topical treatment for glaucoma [1].
| Description | In plain terms | Example drug | |
|---|---|---|---|
| S01 | Ophthalmologicals | medicines applied to the eye | Latanoprost (S01EE01) / aflibercept (S01LA05) |
| S02 | Otologicals | ear medicines, mostly drops | Ciprofloxacin ear drops (S02AA15) / dexamethasone with antiinfectives (S02CA06) |
| S03 | Ophthalmological and otological preparations | drops licensed for both eye and ear | Residual group for drops licensed for both eye and ear; no separate standard of care. Closest is dexamethasone with antiinfectives (S03CA01); single-agent example ciprofloxacin (S03AA07). Eye and ear disease is treated from S01 and S02 instead. |
References
[1]
Zimmerman TJ, Kaufman HE. Timolol, dose response and duration of action. Archives of Ophthalmology 1977;95:605–7. https://doi.org/10.1001/archopht.1977.04450040071009.