Objective: To determine whether the extent and location of progressive parapapillary chorioretinal atrophy noted in some patients with ocular hypertension are correlated with the extent and location of visual field defects that occur with progression to glaucoma.
Study design: Retrospective cohort study.
Participants: Thirty patients with ocular hypertension who had progressive changes of parapapillary atrophy develop before clinically detectable optic disc or visual field damage.
Main outcome measures: Assessment of changes in the parapapillary atrophy and visual field parameters.
Methods: Baseline and follow-up optic disc photographs and visual field test results were retrospectively analyzed. The relationship between the extent of parapapillary atrophy observed during the ocular hypertension period and initial visual field abnormalities detected after glaucoma development, as well as their spatial relationship, was statistically analyzed.
Results: The extent of progressive changes of the parapapillary atrophy detected during the ocular hypertension period was correlated with the extent of changes in the visual field parameters, including corrected pattern standard deviation and mean deviation measured after glaucoma development (Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test, P = 0.026, P = 0.037, respectively). In addition, the visual field abnormalities occurred in the corresponding quadrants of the progressive parapapillary atrophy. Analysis of the spatial relationship revealed that the location of progressive changes of the parapapillary atrophy was concordant with the location of visual field abnormalities in 78% of the quadrants (94 of 120 quadrants) (chi-square test, P = 0.001).
Conclusions: The extent and location of visual field abnormalities that develop in ocular hypertensive eyes with progression to glaucoma exhibit a concordance with the extent and location of progressive parapapillary atrophy noted in the ocular hypertension period. This suggests the importance of detailed examination of the parapapillary area in ocular hypertensive eyes.