Axial Length Does Not Correlate With Degree of Visual Field Loss in Myopic Chinese Individuals With Glaucomatous Appearing Optic Nerves

PURPOSE: We previously described a group of patients of Chinese ancestry who presented with optic nerve appearance and visual field loss suggestive of glaucoma but did not show progression characteristic of this disease for up to 7 years. The purpose of this study was to assess whether axial length is a risk factor for visual field loss in patients presenting with this cluster of findings. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients of Chinese ancestry with characteristics of this previously described condition including myopia, tilted discs, and glaucomatous visual field abnormalities who also had asymmetric visual field loss were enrolled in this study. Patients underwent axial length measurement of both eyes and a fellow eye analysis was performed to determine the relationship between axial length and visual field loss. RESULTS: Tilted discs were found in 30 out of 40 eyes, with cup/disc ratios ranging from 0.5 to 0.9. Myopia >6.00 diopters was also found in 30 out of 40 eyes. In these subjects with disease that was discordant between the 2 eyes, longer axial length was not found to be associated with greater visual field loss (P>0.99, Freeman-Halton extension of the Fisher exact test). No correlation was found between axial length and mean deviation on visual field testing (r=-0.06). CONCLUSIONS: We did not find axial length to be a risk factor for visual field loss in eyes with asymmetric disease in this patient population. These findings suggest that factors other than progressive lengthening of the eye play an important role in the etiology of glaucomatous appearing optic nerve damage and visual field loss in this specific subset of patients.