Peripheral visual field testing by automated kinetic perimetry in glaucoma.

The peripheral visual field was measured with a single kinetic target and the central 30 degrees with static stimuli in 600 eyes of 323 patients with glaucoma and patients suspected of having glaucoma using an automated perimeter (Fieldmaster 5000). The purpose of the study was to compare the additional information gained by the peripheral field testing against the time requirement for this extra procedure. An abnormal peripheral field supported the diagnosis suggested by a central abnormality in 131 eyes (21.8%), while a defect in the peripheral field provided the principal diagnostic information, when the central field was normal or equivocal, in 25 cases (4.2%). Peripheral field measurements accounted for approximately 28% of the total testing time.