Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To compare perimetry and measurement of the optic nerve head morphometry in the determination of glaucomatous progression. Methods: 40 patients (40 eyes) with open–angle glaucoma were followed for 5 to 7 years. Visual fields were measured with the G1 program of the Octopus perimeter (Interzeag, Switzerland) and optic nerve head changes were analyzed using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT, Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Germany). In the beginning of the follow–up, early glaucoma with glaucomatous optic nerve head changes was detected in 28 eyes. 17 of these eyes had normal visual fields and 11 eyes had early defects. Topical glaucoma medication of each eye was modified to lower the intraocular pressure or the eye underwent either laser treatment or trabeculaectomy. Baseline measurements were performed after these procedures. Visual field progression was defined according to the modified criteria of Hodapp e. et al (1994). Evaluation of the changes in the HRT parameters was performed in the groups of eyes with definite visual field progression, suspected visual field progression, and no visual field progression. Results: The mean age (SD) and mean follow–up time (SD) of the 40 patients was 65.9 (6.2) years and 5.4 (0.7) years, respectively. Definite visual field progression was detected in 12 eyes, suspected progression in 9 eyes, and no visual field progression in 19 eyes. In pairwise comparison, statistically significant (p < 0.05) reduction in the global rim area was detected in the groups of definite and suspected visual field progression. In the analysis of the global cup shape measure (T3), statistically significant change to the positive direction (more damage) was detected only in the group of definite visual field progression. Conclusions: When definite glaucomatous visual field progression was detected, both the global rim area and the global cup shape measure of the HRT parameters changed statistically significantly. More detailed analysis will be presented.
Keywords: optic disc • visual fields • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: systems/equipment/techniques