A comparison between the diagnostic results of short wavelength automated perimetry and standard automated perimetry in glaucoma patients

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic results of short wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP) and standard automated perimetry (SAP) in glaucoma patients. Patients and methods This study was held in Qena University Hospital from March 2012 to December 2012 and included 60 individuals who underwent full ophthalmological examination by means of slit-lamp biomicroscopy, gonioscopy, best-corrected visual acuity testing on Landolt's chart, fundus and optic nerve head examination using a +90 D lens, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement by means of applanation tonometry, and finally optic nerve head photography using a Zeiss Visucam 500 fundus camera. The participants were divided into three groups: a normal age-matched control group (group A); a group with primary open-angle glaucoma POAG (group B); and a group with ocular hypertension OHT and glaucoma suspects (group C). Informed consent was obtained from all controls and patients after the nature and possible consequences of the procedure had been fully explained to them. All statistical analyses were performed by using IBM SPSS statistics. Results Thirty randomly selected eyes of 30 volunteers made up group A, 20 eyes of 20 POAG patients comprised group B, and 10 eyes of 10 ocular hypertension patients and glaucoma suspects comprised group C. The mean age of the 60 individuals included in the present study was 70.18 years (range: 60-82 years, SD: ±8.068); 29 were female and 31 were male. The prevalence of SWAP and SAP in glaucoma patients showed deficits in groups B and C, as defined by the presence of a glaucoma hemifield test 'outside normal limits'. According to this criterion, three of 10 (33.3%) group C eyes demonstrated a SWAP deficit at the second visit, whereas no (0%) eyes showed a deficit in SAP at the same time point. All 20 patients of group B manifested abnormal SWAP. The level of agreement in terms of the severity of field loss between SWAP and SAP for groups B and C, based on the pattern SD, was studied. In the present study we found that visual field loss was greater and more diffuse in SWAP than in SAP, but no patient exhibited new scotomata. Conclusion SWAP is superior to SAP in identifying patients with early glaucoma, ocular hypertension, glaucoma suspects, and patients with progressive optic disc cupping and may therefore be quite useful for determining early and progressive changes in glaucoma.