Purpose: To assess whether smaller targets and a 24-2 stimulus presentation pattern would improve the ability of frequency doubling technology (FDT) perimetry to detect and characterize early glaucomatous visual field loss.
Methods: One hundred normal subjects between the ages of 20 and 85 participated in this study. In addition, 53 patients who either had early glaucomatous visual field loss (n = 23) or were high-risk glaucoma suspects with normal conventional visual fields (n = 30) were evaluated with the commercial version of FDT perimetry (full threshold test) with 17 stimuli (four 10 degrees diameter square targets per quadrant and a central 5 degrees circular target) and a custom version of FDT perimetry using 54 stimuli (4 degrees targets with 6 degrees grid spacing) arranged in a 24-2 stimulus presentation pattern.
Results: The custom FDT test using a 24-2 stimulus presentation pattern had a similar dynamic range, and demonstrated normal aging characteristics and test-retest reliability that were similar to the commercial version of FDT perimetry using 17 larger stimuli. Both FDT tests showed an age-related sensitivity reduction of approximately 0.6 dB per decade, and exhibited an average test-retest reliability of 1 to 1.5 dB. The custom 24-2 FDT perimetry test had a greater variation of sensitivity with eccentricity than the commercial version of FDT perimetry that was probably related to the difference in stimulus size. The custom 24-2 FDT perimetry test had a greater percentage of abnormal test locations than the commercial FDT test for both early glaucomas and high-risk glaucoma suspects.
Conclusions: FDT perimetry can be performed with smaller targets using a presentation pattern that is similar to conventional automated perimetry. In comparison to the commercially available 17 target display, the 24-2 stimulus pattern appears to have modestly higher sensitivity for detection of early glaucomatous loss and provides better characterization of the pattern of visual field loss, but the test takes approximately twice as long.