Visual Field Change in Normal Tension Glaucoma

Ahn, M D

Abstract

I assessed the general features and the visual field change over 2.5 years of 33 patients who were diagnosed and treated for normal tension glaucoma (NTG) and were available for at least 1 year of visual field test. The results were as follows. 1. Male(55%) was more prevalent than female and the mean age was 53.4 years. 2. Eight patients were associated with hyperension, 2 patient with hypotension, 4 patients with diabetes, and 2 patients with heart disease. 3. Optic disc hemorrhage was developed in 7 patients (21.2%). 4. In patterns of visual field loss, most common finding was a dense, paracentral/nasal-peripheral scotoma and this pattern was combined with both hemifield defect and superior arcuate scotoma was rare. 5. Visual field had slowly progressed in 22% by 1 year and 38% by 3 years, but visual field improved in 26% by 1 year, and 19% by 3 years. Above these findings suggest that NTG differs from POAG in the aspect of the correlations with the systemic diseases, prevalence of optic disc hemorrhage, the pattern of visual field loss, and progressive visual field loss.