title: Patterns of glaucomatous visual field defects in an older population: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.
abstract: This report aims to describe the frequency of different patterns of visual field loss in open-angle glaucoma (OAG). The Blue Mountains Eye Study examined 3654 persons (aged 49+) during 1992-1994. Humphrey supra-threshold visual fields were performed in 88.9%. Those classified as glaucoma suspects had 30-2 full-threshold fields (9.2%). Of OAG cases (n = 108) with field tests in both eyes (n = 97), unilateral defects were present in 49 (50.5%) and bilateral in 48 (49.5%). Advanced field loss was found in 16 (15.4%) subjects and in 22 (10.9%) eyes, with bilateral loss present in 6 (6.2%) cases. Of all eyes of OAG cases (n = 201), 49 (24.4%) had no defects, 52 (25.9%) upper, 61 (30.3%) lower, and 17 (8.5%) had combined upper and lower loss. Of the upper and lower cases (n = 113), the types of defects included nasal step (36), arcuate (26), nasal plus arcuate (26), and hemispherical defects (25). Of subjects with fields in at least one eye (n = 104), there was a similar proportion in the worse eye of upper defects (28.8%), lower (31.7%), and combined upper and lower (24.0%). Undiagnosed OAG was more frequent in unilateral (65.3%) than bilateral (34.7%) cases (P = 0.003). This study reports the pattern of typical glaucomatous field loss in an older Australian population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Anne J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jie Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rochtchina
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Healey
authors.forename: Ee-Munn
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Chia
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D009798:Ocular Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014792:Visual Acuity; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields