Analysis of the correlation between parapapillary atrophy zones and visual field loss

To analyze the association between parapapillary atrophy zones and mean sensibility (MS) and mean defect (MD) from visual field examination.Selection was performed among 201 cases (402 eyes) who underwent Heidelberg retinal tomography (HRT) and visual field examination (OCTOPUS) during the 2-week duration at Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University People's Hospital between April 2001 to October 2002. Of all the cases, 103 (161 eyes) that had suffered from MD>2 dB and whose refractive error and fundus appearance did not meet exclusion criteria were enrolled.Maximum diameters of β zone and α zone were not significantly associated with refractive errors, disc area, optic cup area and rim area (all P>0.05). Maximum diameters of both β zone (r=-0.188, P=0.017)and α zone(r=0.209, P=0.008) were significantly associated with MS. Similarly, maximum diameters of both β zone (r=0.159, P=0.044)and α zone(r=-0.191, P=0.015) were significantly associated with MD. However, the maximum diameter ofβ zone was the risk factor to defect of visual field, but the maximum diameter of α zone was the protective factor to defect of visual field.Among the patients with remarkable defect of visual field, the maximum diameters of parapapillary atrophy zones are associated with damage of visual field.PubMed06841-34