Frequency doubling perimetry in ocular hypertension and chronic open angle glaucoma.

The authors have studied the reliability of frequency doubling perimetry (FDP) in screening glaucomatous disease and in ocular hypertension. The study was made on 30 patients affected by chronic simple open-angle glaucoma (COAG) and 30 patients with ocular hypertension. MD and PSD variations were evaluated after a W/W perimetry and after FDP. In the COAG patients, FDP confirmed the perimetric alterations found by the W/W method. In the ocular hypertensive patients, with FDP we found a significant PSD increase over that found by the W/W technique: 4.051 +/- 0.822 against 2.501 +/- 0.928 (P < 0.001). FDP can therefore be put forward as a valid instrument for screening even precocious perimetric defects.