RELATION OF FIELD CONTRACTION TO BLOOD PRESSURE IN CHRONIC PRIMARY GLAUCOMA

Abstract

It is common experience that in cases of chronic primary glaucoma there is often an inconsistency between the height of the intraocular pressure and the rate of contraction of the visual fields. There are those cases in which the intraccular pressure is slightly above normal, or even normal, and the fields show progressive contraction, and there are those in which the intraocular pressure is well elevated and the fields show little or no tendency toward progressive contraction. Certainly the elevated intraocular pressure is the most important factor in the contraction of a field, but there are other factors which tend in some instances to nullify and in other instances to augment its deleterious effects. If these factors could be determined and their relation be better understood, indications for treatment would be clearer and the prognosis more accurate. If it is assumed that the field changes in glaucoma have a vascular