Study of patients with ocular hypertension with scanning laser polarimetry and short-wavelength automatic perimetry

Aims: To compare and correlate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) measurements obtained by scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) with defects detected by short-wavelength automatic perimetry (SWAP) in eyes with ocular hypertension (OHT). Methods: SLP and SWAP were performed in 96 eyes of 48 consecutive patients with OHT. Results: Twenty-five eyes (26%) had SWAP visual field defects. Twenty-seven eyes (28.1%) had abnormal RNFL evaluation defined by the GDx neural network ('number' > 29). Fourteen eyes of 10 patients (14.5%) had abnormal RNFL evaluation and SWAP visual field defects. RNFL thickness measurements were significantly reduced in eyes with abnormal SWAP. A weak but statistically significant correlation between the 'number' and pattern standard deviation (r = 0.3, p = 0.006) and the corrected pattern standard deviation (r = 0.3, p = 0.007) in SWAP was found. Areas of abnormal RNFL thickness corresponded to the localization of the SWAP visual field defects in corrected pattern deviation plots in 10 of the 14 eyes with defects in both tests. Conclusions: SWAP visual field defects frequently coexist and correspond with abnormalities of RNFL detected by SLP in eyes with OHT. In certain eyes, however, the two methods detect different glaucoma properties. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.