[Correlation of age and intraocular pressure with visual field damage in patients with normal-tension glaucoma]

Abstract

Objective: We investigated the correlation of age and intraocular pressure (IOP) with visual field damage in patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and asymmetric visual field defects.

Methods: A total of 88 NTG patients (176 eyes) were investigated. Patients in whom visual field defects were more severe in the eye with higher IOP than in the fellow eye were grouped as IOP-visual field-concordant patients, and the others as IOP-visual field-discordant patients. Mean 24-hour IOP was used as an indicator of IOP, and mean deviation (MD) as an indicator of visual field defects. Patients were also compared by age tertile.

Results: The IOP-visual field-concordant group comprised 53 of the 88 patients (60.2%), among whom the >70-years tertile had significantly greater absolute values for MD asymmetry. In contrast, no significant differences in asymmetry by age tertile were seen in the IOP-visual field-discordant group.

Conclusion: Elevated IOP is a cause of visual field defects in many NTG patients. Among IOP-visual field-concordant patients, particular attention is required to visual field changes in the eyes of patients with higher IOP.