Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Dec;56(13):7956-62.
doi: 10.1167/iovs.15-17297.

Location of Initial Visual Field Defects in Glaucoma and Their Modes of Deterioration

Joon Mo Kim  1 , Haksu Kyung  2 , Seong Hee Shim  3 , Parham Azarbod  4 , Joseph Caprioli  5
Affiliations

Location of Initial Visual Field Defects in Glaucoma and Their Modes of Deterioration

Joon Mo Kim et al. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the location of initial visual field defects (VFD) in glaucoma, their modes of deterioration, and those factors associated with different modes of deterioration.

Methods: Patients with POAG were categorized into four groups based on three consecutive initial VFD: (1) superior paracentral defects (PD), (2) inferior PD, (3) superior nasal defects (ND), and (4) inferior ND. According to the worsening of the VF, four further subgroups were identified: (1) superior central worsening (CW), (2) inferior CW, (3) superior peripheral or nasal worsening (NW), and (4) inferior NW. Systemic and ocular factors were analyzed for each of the subgroups to identify possible associations.

Results: One hundred sixty-two eyes of 162 subjects were analyzed. Superior PD (n = 40) were more frequent in females and associated with disc hemorrhage (DH), and were less frequent in patients with systemic hypertension (HT). Inferior PD (n = 35) showed a significant association with cup shape measure and axial length. Superior ND (n = 37) were more highly associated with HT and diabetes. Inferior ND (n = 50) showed a lower incidence of DH. With binary logistic regression analysis, superior PD showed a significant association with both HT and DH. With respect to VF worsening, superior CW showed a significant association with HT and diabetes, whereas superior NW was associated with a high minimum IOP during follow-up, and inferior NW was associated with a high maximum IOP during follow-up.

Conclusions: The initial location and subsequent direction of worsening of VFD were associated with different systemic and ocular factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Initial visual field defect. Paracentral defects were ([A] superior) and ([C] inferior). Nasal defects were ([B] superior) and ([D] inferior).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The direction of extension of VF defects from initial defects. The central progression (CW) groups were  7○ and  8○ (superior), and  9○ and  10○ (inferior). The peripheral/nasal progression (NW) groups were  1○,  2○, and  3○ (superior) and  4○ and  5○, and  6○ (inferior).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Caprioli J,, Spaeth GL. Comparison of visual field defects in the low-tension glaucomas with those in the high-tension glaucomas. Am J Ophthalmol. 1984; 97: 730–737. - PubMed
    1. McKean-Cowdin R,, Wang Y,, Wu J,, Azen SP,, Varma R;, for the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study Group. Impact of visual field loss on health-related quality of life in glaucoma: the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 2008; 115: 941–948. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yanagisawa M,, Kato S,, Kobayashi M,, Watanabe M,, Ochiai M. Relationship between vision-related quality of life and different types of existing visual fields in Japanese patients. Int Ophthalmol. 2012; 32: 523–529. - PubMed
    1. Fujita K,, Yasuda N,, Oda K,, Yuzawa M. Reading performance in patients with central visual field disturbance due to glaucoma [in Japanese]. Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi. 2006; 110: 914–918. - PubMed
    1. Coexkelbergh TR,, Brouwer WH,, Cornelissen FW,, et al. The effect of visual field defects on driving performance: a driving simulator study. Arch Ophthalmol. 2002; 120: 1509–1516. - PubMed

Publication types