Investigation of visual field defects in strabismic and anisometropic amblyopes with the Octopus program G1

Using the Octopus G1 program, we investigated the visual fields of amblyopic and healthy contralateral eyes in 21 patients with strabismic amblyopia and 14 patients with anisometropic amblyopia. All subjects had a visual acuity of 0.7-0.06. A central scotoma was detected in 85.7% of the patients with strabismic amblyopia and in 79% of those with anisometropic amblyopia. The mean maximal depth of central scotomas in subjects with strabismic amblyopia was 6.81 +/- 4.74 dB (mean +/- SD); in those with anisometropic amblyopia, it was 6.64 +/- 4.34 dB. This difference was statistically not significant. However, in patients with anisometropic amblyopia, the visual field indices MD (mean defect) and CLV (corrected loss variation) were significantly higher than in those with strabismic amblyopia (P less than 0.05 vs P less than 0.05); this was predominantly due to additional flat defects that occurred paracentrally and peripherally in subjects with anisometropic amblyopia. In both groups of patients, we found a significant negative correlation between visual acuity, on the one hand, and the maximal depth of the scotomas and the visual field indices (MD and CLV), on the other.