Blue-on-Yellow Perimetry Can Predict the Development of Glaucomatous Visual Field Loss

Abstract

• Objective. —The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether blue-on-yellow (B/Y) perimetry is capable of predicting the onset and location of impending glaucomatous visual field loss in patients with ocular hypertension. Design. —A Humphrey Field Analyzer (Humphrey Instruments, San Leandro, Calif) was modified to perform B/Y perimetry to isolate and measure the sensitivity of short-wavelength—sensitive mechanisms. Participants were tested annually with standard white-on-white (W/W) and B/Y automated perimetry for a period of 5 years. Patients. —The study population consisted of 38 patients with ocular hypertension and 62 age-matched normal control subjects. Results. —Initially, all 76 ocular hypertensive eyes had normal W/W automated perimetry results, with 67 eyes having normal and nine eyes having abnormal B/Y test results. Five years later, five of the nine ocular hypertensive eyes with initial B/Y abnormal results developed glaucomatous visual field loss measured by standard W/W automated perimetry, while none of the 67 ocular hypertensive eyes with initially normal B/Y results developed abnormal W/W perimetry results. Conclusions. —Blue-on-yellow perimetry deficits are an early indicator of glaucomatous damage and are predictive of impending glaucomatous visual field loss for standard W/W automated perimetry. To our knowledge, this is the first prospective, long-term longitudinal study that demonstrates the ability to predict the onset of glaucomatous visual field loss in patients with ocular hypertension on the basis of psychophysical testing.