Loss of sensitivity to motion-defined form in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

During the past few years many researchers have attempted to find a psychophysical test that will identify at an early stage patients at risk for developing glaucoma. We investigated the ability of a test of motion-defined (MD) form recognition to discriminate between patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and control subjects and to identify patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) at risk for developing glaucoma. Performance on two MD tests and three tests of static, luminance-defined (LD) form recognition was compared. Speed thresholds for reading MD letters proved to be the most sensitive test of early glaucomatous damage. 80% of POAG and 38% of OHT patients were abnormal on this test. During a 3-year follow-up period, 50% of these OHT patients developed glaucoma. These psychophysical findings support the hypothesis of early motion deficits in glaucoma.