Multifocal objective perimetry in the detection of glaucomatous field loss

PURPOSE: To test the ability of a new type of multifocal objective perimetry to identify glaucomatous visual field defects. METHODS: A multichannel visual evoked potential was recorded using the ObjectiVision Accumap perimeter. One hundred patients (age, 62.2 ± 9.8 years, mean MD -6.5 ± 4.17 dB) with open-angle glaucoma and confirmed glaucomatous visual field defects were tested and compared with the normal database of 100 normal subjects (age, 58.9 ± 10.7 years). Both eyes were tested, but for determining sensitivity the eye with the lesser field defect was chosen if both qualified. The amplitude and intereye asymmetry coefficient for each zone of the field were calculated. A mean amplitude and multifocal objective perimetry severity index was calculated for each subject. RESULTS: In 95 of 100 (95%) patients with glaucoma Humphrey field defects were correlated with visual evoked potential amplitude reductions identifying a cluster of three or more abnormal zones. In two of five remaining patients with glaucoma the defect was detected on the intereye asymmetry analysis. Topographic location was well correlated with Humphrey fields. Mean amplitude was significantly reduced in 86 of the glaucoma cases (86%). The glaucoma severity index was abnormal in 93 glaucoma cases and showed a correlation with Humphrey MD (r = 0.67 right eyes, 0.69 left eyes). In 37 glaucoma cases with no scotoma by definition in the fellow eye, 22 (59.4%) had an abnormal multifocal objective perimetry, whereas only eight had some other aspect of their Humphrey visual field flagged as abnormal. CONCLUSIONS: Multifocal objective perimetry can assess the visual field and identify glaucomatous visual field defects. It may have the potential for identifying defects earlier than conventional perimetry.