Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Visual Field Progression in Glaucoma Assessed by Parallel Factor Analysis

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Data Science
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness.
• Visual field (VF) defects are a key indicator of glaucoma progression.
• Understanding the spatio-temporal characteristics of VF progression is crucial for timely intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore spatial and temporal characteristics of glaucomatous visual field (VF) progression.
• To apply multi-way decomposition for analyzing complex VF data.
• To identify patterns indicative of glaucoma development and advancement.

Main Methods:

• Utilized six serial VF exams from 121 pre-perimetric and 80 perimetric glaucoma eyes.
• Arranged VF data into a three-dimensional cube for analysis.
• Employed parallel factor analysis for data decomposition.

Main Results:

• Identified three tri-linear components representing spatial, temporal, and subject-specific factors.
• Component 1 revealed superior-inferior hemispheric differences and linear temporal trends, consistent with known glaucoma defects.
• Components 2 and 3 highlighted specific regional contrasts (nasal, central, peripheral) but lacked clear temporal trends.

Conclusions:

• Multi-way decomposition effectively identifies spatio-temporal patterns in glaucoma VF progression.
• This methodology offers novel possibilities for earlier glaucoma diagnosis.
• The findings support the use of advanced data analysis for predicting glaucoma progression.