[Various approaches to the diagnosis of initial open-angle glaucoma]

Glaucoma is characterized by a triad of symptoms: increased intraocular pressure, widening of disc cupping and scotomata in the paracentral part of the visual field. Attempts to discern it by one of the symptoms only or, on the contrary, essentially to increase the number of the analysed signs prevent to improve early diagnosis of the disease. In the recent years, a particularly serious progress could be achieved thanks to perimetric studies, such as multiple statistical perimetry. The author and his associates have approved, on many thousands of patients, original methods for diagnosis of glaucoma with the help of a disc test and a glaucoma tester. Together with assessment of the eye fundus and intraocular pressure these perimetric data allowed to conduct a clear differential diagnosis of glaucoma, preglaucoma and increased intraocular pressure. The computerization of individual methods and creation of summary data in the computer bank memory open good perspectives for improvement of glaucoma diagnosis.