Correlation of color vision deficits and observable changes in the optic disc in a population of ocular hypertensives

Both glaucomatous cupping and the presence of acquired color vision deficits have been reported to be precursors to the onset of visual field defects in patients with suspected glaucoma. To examine the relationship between early glaucomatous cupping and acquired color vision anomalies, we performed anomaloscope (Pickford-Nicholson) and Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue color vision tests in 48 ocular hypertensive eyes with either clinical evidence of early glaucomatous cupping (group 1) or no evidence of glaucomatous cupping (group 2). All patients had normal visual fields, as determined by extensive static perimetry of the central visual field and kinetic perimetry of the peripheral visual field. Although the overall incidence of blue and blue-green color vision anomalies in the ocular hypertensives was comparable with that reported in previous studies, we found no clear association between early glaucomatous cupping and color vision anomalies. The relationship between these two precursors to visual field loss remains unclear.