Recent developments in visual field testing for glaucoma

Visual field testing remains one of the most important tools for characterizing and monitoring vision loss in glaucoma. Despite its current mainstream use, new developments continue to emerge on its current use and potentially better methods for its testing and analysis. This review summarizes new developments in visual field testing and, in particular, standard automated perimetry.

Evidence-based guidance has recently been provided on the impact of testing frequency on the ability to detect visual field progression. An increasing body of evidence also highlights numerous factors that can impact the interpretation of visual field results currently considered reliable (e.g. the reliability indices themselves, fixation tracking parameters, and cognitive decline). More targeted visual field testing paradigms for central and peripheral visual fields have been explored, although further work is needed to understand their role in clinical care. Exploiting retinal imaging during visual field testing with fundus-tracked perimetry shows promise for improving precision. Thresholding algorithms that account for spatial and structural information and novel analytical techniques for longitudinal data could also improve the ability to detect and monitor visual field loss. New promising methods for objective and portable assessment of visual function have also emerged.

New developments in visual field testing shows promise for improving this challenging, yet fundamental, clinical test for glaucoma management.