EARLY DETECTION OF VISUAL-FIELD PROGRESSION IN GLAUCOMA - A COMPARISON OF PROGRESSOR AND STATPAC-2

Aim-To compare the performance of PROGRESSOR (pointwise linear regress ion) and STATPAC 2 (comparison with baseline values) in detecting earl y deterioration in the visual fields of glaucoma patients. Methods-Vis ual field series from 19 untreated normal tension glaucoma eyes which were deteriorating on clinical grounds were analysed by PROGRESSOR and STATPAC 2. Progression criteria for PROGRESSOR were (I) inner points: slope < -1 dB/year, p < 0.05 and (2) edge points: slope < -2 dB/year, p < 0.05. Criteria for STATPAC 2 were p < 0.05 change probability for any point on three consecutive fields. Detection time was defined as the time interval between the initial field and the first field in whi ch at least one progressing point was identified. Detection times prod uced by the two techniques were compared. Results-PROGRESSOR and STATP AC 2 agreed on progression in all 19 eyes. Mean detection time for PRO GRESSOR was 1.077 (SD 0.985) years and for STATPAC 2 was 2.161 (1.357) years. PROGRESSOR detected progression sooner than STATPAC 2 in 18 ey es (p < 0.01, Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test). PROGRESSOR det ected progression earlier by a mean of 1.085 (0.936) years. Conclusion s-PROGRESSOR consistently detected progression earlier than STATPAC 2. The PROGRESSOR software is a useful tool for the early detection of v isual field deterioration in glaucoma.