Mapping standard automated perimetry to the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer in glaucoma

¹ Ophthalmology, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain; University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
² NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom; G.B. Bietti Foundation-IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Rome, Italy
³ G.B. Bietti Foundation-IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Rome, Italy
⁴ Ophthalmology, San Carlos University Hospital, Madrid, Spain

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: aferreras{at}msn.com.

	Abstract

Purpose: To establish a map relating visual field (VF) test points to corresponding areas of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) measured with optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Methods: 104 consecutive subjects with open-angle glaucoma were prospectively selected. All subjects underwent standard automated perimetry (SAP) and imaging with OCT. Factor analyses of the mean threshold values for the SAP test points were performed, independently for each hemifield, to define regions of related points. Pearson correlations were then calculated between the VF regions obtained and peripapillary RNFL thickness, measured with OCT at each of the 12 clock-hour positions. A map relating the VF regions to the OCT sectors was plotted based on the strongest correlations between both techniques. Results: Factor analysis distributed the VF points to five VF regions for each hemifield. A slightly asymmetric distribution of VF regions was obtained for the upper and lower points with respect to the horizontal meridian. Mild to moderate correlations were observed between the VF regions and RNFL thickness. The superior VF regions and RNFL segments were most strongly correlated at the 6 and 7 o'clock positions (r ranged from 0.4 to 0.5). Conclusions: There was moderate association between the VF regions and the RNFL thickness measured with OCT in patients with glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Within sectors of the RNFL, there was some overlap in the representation of VF regions. The map obtained validates previously reported clinical findings and contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between structure and function in glaucoma patients.

Key Words: optical coherence tomography, visual field, glaucoma

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