Abstract

Study design: Prospective comparative study. Purpose: To compare the visual field (VF) defects in children with glaucoma with VF in glaucoma adults with comparable Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness (RNFLT) on OCT. Methods: Glaucomatous children aged 6-18 years underwent VF and RNFLT on OCT and were compared to VF indices of RNFLT-matched adults retrieved from the OCT database. Results: 46 glaucomatous eyes of 35 children (Mean age 11.3±2.3years) were analysed. The average MD of children was significantly less than that of the glaucomatous adults despite having the same RNFL thickness (-7.8±3.9dB Vs -4.5±2.7 dB, p=0.001). The VF indices were significantly worse in older children aged 12-18 years than in the younger cohort (6-11 years) (-9.20 dB vs -6.9 dB; p=0.18). Conclusions: Children appear to have lesser retinal sensitivity than adults, reflecting worse VF indices for similar RNFL loss.

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