SHORT-WAVELENGTH AUTOMATED PERIMETRY AND MOTION AUTOMATED PERIMETRY IN PATIENTS WITH GLAUCOMA

Objective: To compare short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP), a t est favoring the detection of the target by the parvocellular pathways of vision, with motion automated perimetry (MAP), a test favoring det ection by the magnocellular pathways, in the same eyes. Participants: Thirty-three individuals in whom glaucoma was suspected (glaucoma susp ects) and 17 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma were compared w ith 30 age-matched normal control subjects. Interventions: Short-wavel ength automated perimetry was done with the usual protocol (program 24 -2). Motion coherence thresholds were measured with 14 random dot targ ets that covered the 24-2 field area. Short-wavelength automated perim etry test locations corresponding to each of the 14 motion automated p erimetry locations were averaged to compare 14 locations for each test . Results: Short-wavelength automated perimetry and motion automated p erimetry were correlated by visual field location (whole field r=-0.40 , P<.001), especially in the superior field (r=-0.45, P<.001). Overlap for defective locations was present in 16 (94%) of the 17 eyes with g laucoma, although in the glaucoma suspect eyes each test showed the ea rliest deficit in a percentage of individuals with overlap in only 3 ( 21%) of the 14 eyes. An analysis of variance showed a significant effe ct of diagnosis for both tests (SWAP and MAP, P<.001); the eyes of pat ients with glaucoma were significantly different from those of the nor mal controls. The results for glaucoma suspects were significantly dif ferent on SWAP only in the superior temporal field (Tukey-Kramer test) . Conclusions: Both tests successfully identified eyes with glaucoma a nd a percentage of the glaucoma suspect eyes; both were correlated by field location. These results suggest that damage due to glaucoma is n onselective for either the parvocellular or the magnocellular ganglion cell axons, that there may be individual differences in which type of ganglion cell shows damage first, and that when standard visual held loss is present the results of SWAP and MAP are defective.