NORMAL VALUES FOR FUNDUS PERIMETRY WITH THE SCANNING LASER OPHTHALMOSCOPE

PURPOSE: To evaluate the normal light sensitivity values for fundus pe rimetry and their short time fluctuation (reliability) in normal volun teers of different ages, After the development of full threshold stati c fundus perimetry, age-corrected sensitivity values for normal subjec ts are required to interpret results and to compare them with conventi onal computerized perimetry, METHOD: Full-threshold fundus perimetry o f the central field (33 x 21 degrees) by means of the scanning Laser o phthalmoscope was performed on 152 eyes of 99 healthy persons aged 16 to 77 years with normal vision and no eye disease. Fixation was simult aneously documented. Light sensitivity values were evaluated according to each subject's age and test point location, RESULTS: Linear regres sion analysis disclosed a significant (P <.0001) decrease of the mean sensitivity of 0.275 dB per decade of increasing age, starting with 16 .6 dB at age 10 years, Standard deviation around the center of fixatio n was 0.287 degrees in the first decade, and it increased by 2.82 minu tes of are per decade (P <.0001), Variation in triple examinations of subjects did not differ from short time fluctuation, CONCLUSION: Visua l fields examined with fundus perimetry show reliable measurements in a range comparable to conventional computerized perimetry, There is a significant correlation between increase of age and decrease of light sensitivity in fundus perimetry, Visual fields obtained with fundus pe rimetry seem to correlate well with known data from computerized stati c threshold perimetry, It should be recognized that even in normal sub jects, the stability of fixation decreases with increasing age. (C) 19 98 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.