Comparison of high-pass resolution perimetry and pattern discrimination perimetry to conventional perimetry in glaucoma

We compared two new perimetric techniques, high-pass resolution perimetry and pattern discrimination perimetry, to conventional automated static perimetry in an ongoing prospective study. Forty-eight patients with open-angle glaucoma whose median age was 63.4 (range 15.6 to 89.7) years were included in the study. There was a significant correlation between the results obtained with high-pass resolution perimetry and conventional perimetry for both the whole field and the four quadrants (p < 0.001). However, the correlation between pattern discrimination perimetry and conventional perimetry was poor. The differences between the correlations of the newer techniques with conventional perimetry were statistically significant for the whole field and the superior quadrants (p < 0.01) and were borderline significant for the inferior quadrants. Although the three techniques showed very good concordance in both the extent and location of damage of the visual field in some patients, in others it was poor. Our results show that high-pass resolution perimetry and pattern discrimination perimetry may be measuring different components of the visual response.