[Glaucoma screening by means of pupil campimetry].

BACKGROUND

The aim of the study was to find out if pupillographic assessment of the visual field by means of pupil campimetry can identify glaucomatous visual field defects and as such be used for glaucoma screening purposes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

20 patients with open angle glaucoma and 30 healthy persons were examined by means of pupil campimetry. All glaucoma patients had a glaucomatous visual field defect in at least one eye. The stimulus pattern consisted of 17 white-light stimuli which were presented within the 30° visual field, particularly in the Bjerrum region. The stimulus diameter was 6°. Each stimulus was presented for 200 ms and the interval between the stimuli was 1800 ms. Three stimulus intensities (16.4 cd/m2; 27.1 cd/m2 and 40.5 cd/m2) were tested. The individual pupil light reaction (PLR) amplitudes at all examined locations in the visual field, their sums and partial sums were compared between both groups by the two-sided two-sample t test. The diagnostic performance of the method in glaucoma diagnosis was evaluated by ROC curves (receiver operating characteristics).

RESULTS

The average PLR at all locations in the visual field was reduced in glaucoma patients compared to healthy persons. The sums of the PLR were reduced in glaucoma patients as well. Significant differences in the PLR were found especially in the central and paracentral visual fields. The best AUC values (area under the curve) were reached with the highest stimulus intensity, the highest AUC value overall was 0.769.

CONCLUSION

Although the difference in PLR between glaucoma patients and the control group was significant, the reached AUC values fell short of being ideal for screening purposes. A surprising finding was that the most central pupil response was reduced by the same amount as that in the Bjerrum region.