Progression rate of total, and upper and lower visual field defects in open-angle glaucoma patients

PURPOSE: We evaluated the progression rate of total, and upper and lower visual field defects in treated open-angle glaucoma patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective, nonrandomized, comparative study. Five-hundred forty-four eyes from 315 Japanese open-angle glaucoma patients were examined. The mean deviation (MD) and total deviation (TD) for both the upper and lower slopes on the Humphrey Field Analyzer were calculated and compared in high-tension glaucoma (>21 mmHg) and normal-tension glaucoma (≤21 mmHg). RESULTS: Patients with over -20 dB of MD and over -23 dB of upper or lower TD were enrolled into each analysis. Patients with -7.75 ± 5.30 (mean ± standard deviation) dB of MD, -9.16 ± 10.80 dB of upper TD, or -7.11 ± 6.02 dB of lower TD were followed up for 4-19 years. The mean MD slope was -0.41 ± 0.50 dB/year, the upper TD slope was -0.46 ± 0.65 dB/year, and the lower TD slope was -0.32 ± 0.53 dB/year. Comparing high-tension glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma, the upper TD slope was similar for both types of glaucoma, but the MD and lower TD slopes in high-tension glaucoma were significantly lower than those in normal-tension glaucoma. CONCLUSIONS: The progression rates in lower visual field defects in high-tension glaucoma might be faster than those in normal-tension glaucoma. The results of this study might be used to predict the prognosis of visual field defects, as well as the quality of vision in patients with open-angle glaucoma.