Optic disk topography and visual field defects in patients with increased intraocular pressure.

One hundred one eyes of 54 ocular hypertensive patients were studied to determine the value of optic disk evaluation in predicting the presence or absence and the location and type of visual field defects by means of binocular slit-lamp examination and projected 35-mm monocular color slides. We suspected visual field loss erroneously in only one patient, and failed to detect ten (16%) of 61 eyes with field defects. An examiner experienced in slit-lamp evaluation of the optic disk can accurately predict the presence, absence, and location of field defects in most cases by stereoscopic evaluation of disk topography.