Alternative method of evaluating visual field deterioration in very advanced glaucomatous eye by microperimetry

To report an alternative method of evaluating visual field deterioration in very advanced glaucomatous eyes.

This prospective, comparative study included 24 eyes of 24 consecutive patients with very advanced glaucoma. The eyes were divided into two groups based on their visual field measurements by Goldmann perimetry: Group 1 had a central island with or without a detached temporal island (n = 13), and Group 2 had a central island with a temporal island connected by only a thin isthmus (n = 11). The size of the central island was determined by Goldmann perimetry, and microperimetry plots were determined around the disc margin. The angle formed between a line passing from the disc center to the "seen" points and a second line passing to the "not seen" points at the superior temporal or the inferior temporal sites was used for the analyses.

The mean size of the island was 6.3 +/- 1.9 in Group 1 and was 7.0 +/- 2.0 in Group 2 (P =.38). The mean angle between the "seen" and "not seen" points in Groups 1 and 2 was 56.1 +/- 6.9 and 76.1 +/- 11.8, respectively (P =.0002). The reduction in the angle correlated with the visual field loss (P =.018), but the reduction in the size of the central island was not significantly associated with the visual field loss (P =.29).

Microperimetry may be an alternative method of evaluating advanced glaucoma.