Correlation between blue-on-yellow perimetry and scanning laser polarimetry with variable corneal compensation measurements in primary open-angle glaucoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between blue-on-yellow perimetry (B/YP) indices and scanning laser polarimetry with variable corneal compensation (GDx VCC) parameters in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients, and to evaluate whether the two tests can detect similar glaucomatous damage.

METHODS: One eye each of 86 patients with POAG was chosen. All patients were examined with the Octopus 101 automated perimetry dG2 program using the dynamic strategy/normal method (white-onwhite perimetry, W/WP), with the dG2 program using the dynamic strategy/BY method (blue-on-yellow perimetry, B/YP), and with GDx VCC. Findings were analyzed by using Pearson's correlation analysis.

RESULTS: Of the 42 early glaucoma patients, 28 had both B/YP visual field loss and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) defects detected by the GDx VCC measurements, and in 85.7% (24/28) of patients the regions of B/YP visual field defects corresponded to the RNFL defects detected by GDx VCC. All moderate and late glaucoma patients had both B/YP visual field loss and RNFL defects detected by GDx VCC, and in 95.5% (42/44) the regions of B/YP visual field defects corresponded to the RNFL defects detected by GDx VCC. A statistically significant correlation was found between B/YP mean sensitivity (MS) and the temporal-superior-nasal-inferior-temporal (TSNIT) average (r2>0.191, P>0.047) in the early glaucoma group, but no significant correlation was found between the W/WP indices and GDx VCC parameters. In the moderate to late glaucoma group, a low or moderate, but significant, correlation was found between B/YP MS and GDx VCC parameters (r2>0.286-0.405, P>0.001-0.01), with the most correlative parameter with B/YP MS being the TSNIT average. A low but significant correlation was also found between the B/YP mean defect (MD) and TSNIT average, superior average, inferior average, and nerve fiber indicator (NFI) (r2>0.188-0.271, P>0.013-0.044), and a low or moderate significant correlation was also found between the W/WP MS and MD and the GDx VCC parameters.

CONCLUSION: The presence of significant correlations between some B/YP indices and the GDx VCC parameters in glaucoma patients suggests that the two tests can detect similar areas and amounts of glaucomatous damage. These findings raise the possibility that both techniques can be used in clinical examinations to yield convergent data.