Improvement of the visual field index in clinical glaucoma care.

OBJECTIVE: This article investigates the prevalence and attributes of patients with open-angle glaucoma who exhibit improvement of visual field loss in a clinical setting.

DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients in a clinical glaucoma practice.

PARTICIPANTS: We identified 719 glaucoma patients with at least 5 SITA strategy visual field tests and a minimum continuous follow-up period of 5 years.

METHODS: The change in the slope of the visual field index (VFI) over time was illustrated using histogram analysis for the study eye with the worst VFI at baseline. Multiple variables were analyzed to determine their impact on rates of visual field progression, including sex, age, disease staging, intraocular pressure (IOP), and incisional surgeries. Eyes with severe nonophthalmic and ophthalmic comorbidities were excluded.

RESULTS: Considering 582 eligible eyes, 232 (39.9%) showed significantly positive slopes of the VFI as a function of time, 76 (13.1%) showed nonsignificant slopes, and 276 (47.4%) showed significantly negative slopes. In all, 10 eyes (1.7%) demonstrated VFI slope improvement of ≥2% per year, whereas 21 (3.6%) demonstrated VFI slope reduction ≥2% per year. More advanced disease stage was significantly associated with a negative VFI slope (p < 0.0001). Trabeculectomy and poor compliance were not associated with a negative VFI slope, whereas cataract surgery correlated with higher odds of a negative VFI slope (p = 0.048).

CONCLUSIONS: In a clinical setting, a significant VFI improvement over time was observed over an interval of greater than 5 years.