Intraocular pressure before and after visual field examination.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the influence of visual field (VF) examinations using modern techniques with short examination times on the intraocular pressure (IOP).


METHODS
Sixty-one consecutive patients, aged 28-90 years, 40 women and 21 men, were examined. Forty patients were treated for glaucoma and 21 were untreated patients with ocular hypertension or suspected glaucoma. Twenty-one subjects were examined using the Humphrey Field Analyzer, using SITA programs, and 40 with high-pass resolution perimetry (HRP). Goldmann applanation tonometry was performed immediately before and after the VF examinations.


RESULTS
A difference in IOP of more than 2 mm Hg before and after the VF examination was observed in 14 of the 61 patients (23%). The maximum change in each direction was 4 mm Hg. The mean differences were not significant. All eight subjects with increasing IOP after VF examinations were examined using the HRP technique (P=0.04).


CONCLUSIONS
Modern VF techniques with short examination time do not seem to significantly influence IOP.
Martin
L
L
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Ophthalmology and Vision, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. lene.martin@ste.ki.se
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009798:Ocular Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields