title: Initial central scotomas vs peripheral scotomas in normal-tension glaucoma: clinical characteristics and progression rates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate clinical characteristics and progression rates of the initial central scotomas (ICS) compared with the initial peripheral scotomas (IPS) in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among NTG patients showing a single hemifield defect and who performed more than five reliable standard visual field (VF) tests, medical records of ICS (involvement of ≥3 adjacent points with P<5% within the central 12° of fixation and one point with a P<0.01 within the central 6° of fixation) (n=32) or IPS (no VF abnormality within the central 6° of fixation) (n=34) were retrospectively analyzed. The changes of mean thresholds from 10 zones of the glaucoma hemifield test, central 6° and 12° zones, peripheral zones other than central 6° and 12°, and the entire hemifield were inspected. To calculate the progression rates, linear mixed-effect model was employed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences between the two groups in age, gender, ocular factors including baseline/mean treated intraocular pressure, and systemic factors including systolic or diastolic blood pressure/perfusion pressure, mean ocular perfusion pressure (all P>0.05). There were no significant differences in baseline mean deviation and pattern standard deviation (P>0.05) between the two groups, but VF index was significantly lower in ICS group than in IPS group (P=0.001). The progression rates between the two groups were not significantly different in all zones we investigated (all P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Newly diagnosed cases of NTG with ICS may not differ from those with IPS in clinical characteristics and progression rates under treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: H-K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kong Eye Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Dankook University School of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kee
mesh_terms: D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D057066:Low Tension Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012607:Scotoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology