Purpose: To quantify the area of isopters obtained using a new technique of kinetic visual field examination--semi-automated kinetic perimetry (SKP)--in case of advanced retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) loss, caused by glaucoma.
Material and methods: Forty-one subjects (19 men, 22 women; mean age 66.5 +/- 12.5 years) suffering from open-angle glaucoma (30 patients), normal tension glaucoma (5 patients), juvenile glaucoma (2 patients) and PEX glaucoma (4 patients) were examined, using SKP program implemented in Octopus 101 instrument (Haag-Streit, Koeniz, Switzerland). One eye of each patient was tested using three stimuli according to the Goldmann classification. The stimuli III4e and I4e were obligatory. Additionally one stimulus (I3e or I2e) was used depending on the character of the defect. The stimulus angular velocity was kept constant at the level of 3 degrees/s. Obtained visual field (VF) results were classified according to the Aulhorn classification into stage III (26 VF) and IV (15 VF). The areas of isopters were measured in deg2.
Results: The mean area of isopter III4e was 9860 deg2, I4e--5171 deg2, I3e--1093 deg2, I2e--1093 deg2 in the group of Aulhorn stage III. In the group of Aulhorn stage IV the mean area of isopter III4e was 7488 deg2, I4e--3736 deg2, I3e--1109 deg2 and I2e--818 deg2. The mean test time was 16 min. (range 9-25 min.), 15.7 min. in the group of Aulhorn stage III and 16.5 min. in the group of Aulhorn stage IV, respectively.
Conclusion: SKP seems to be an effective method for quantitative assessment and evaluation of isopter and scotoma areas (in deg2). In this study it was demonstrated that in case of more advanced stages of glaucomatous visual field loss (Aulhorn stage IV), the areas of isopters appeared to be smaller.