Br J Ophthalmol 1999;83:199-205 ( February )
Temporal contrast sensitivity with peripheral and central
stimulation in glaucoma diagnosis
Isabel M Velten,
Matthias Korth,
Folkert K Horn,
Wido M Budde
Department
of Ophthalmology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
Correspondence to: Dr Isabel M Velten, Augenklinik mit Poliklinik der Universität
Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany.
Accepted for publication 18 August 1998
AIMS
To evaluate
temporal contrast sensitivity with full field, peripheral, and central
stimulation and to determine the most sensitive corresponding retinal
area for glaucoma damage.
METHODSTemporal
contrast sensitivity was determined either with a full field, a
peripheral annular area from 30° to 90°, or a central area from
0° to 30° at a frequency of 37.1 Hz. 232 eyes of 232 subjects were
included. They were classified into four groups: eyes with ocular
hypertension (OHT, n = 54), "preperimetric" glaucomas (n = 73) with
glaucomatous optic disc abnormalities but no visual field loss,
"perimetric" glaucomas (n = 53) with visual field loss, and 52 normals.
RESULTSIn all four
groups, temporal contrast senstitivity was almost equal with full field
and peripheral, but significantly higher than with central stimulation
(p <0.001). With regard to the diagnostic power of the three different
stimulus areas, OHTs and glaucomas were found to be best discriminated
from normals by peripheral stimulation.
CONCLUSIONSAccording
to these results, temporal contrast sensitivity seems to be determined
by peripheral retinal areas. As the diagnostic power of the three
different stimulus areas was best with the peripheral stimulation, this
condition should be used for early glaucoma diagnosis.
Keywords:
temporal contrast sensitivity;
full field flicker;
glaucoma;
ocular hypertension
© 1999 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
