To the Editor.
—There have been several reports on the incidence of central nervous system (CNS) side effects associated with ocular β-blocker administration,1-2 including the recent preliminary study by Lynch et al3 reported in the July 1988 issue of the Archives.Recently, we completed a double-masked pilot study that was designed to quantitatively compare the incidence of CNS effects secondary to the use of two ocular β-blockers, betaxolol hydrochloride/maleate and timolol hydrochloride/maleate. Forty-four normal male and female volunteers enrolled in this five-week, randomized, comparative study. All of the subjects were between 50 and 75 years of age.The data for each of the 23 men and 21 women were included in the analysis; none of the subjects was withdrawn from the study. Analysis of the demographic variables indicated no significant differences between the treatment groups at baseline. Further analysis of the physical examination results, the ophthalmic examination results,