Visual field indices for the nasal step: different calculation procedures and their correlation with the clinical classification of visual field defects.

We calculated normal values for the normal population of the Octopus G1 program (n = 836) and values for defective fields due to glaucoma and other diseases (n = 147) to determine indices for a nasal step in the interpretation of glaucomatous visual fields. We used different calculation procedures and correlated the results with the clinical evaluation of the visual field. All indices tested were able to detect and quantify nasal steps in defective fields and to separate them from normal findings (area under curve of Receiver Operating Characteristic curves 0.963 to 0.999). Indices calculated excluding sensitivity values of positions with the greatest distance from the horizontal meridian or weighting of sensitivity values according to their closeness to the horizontal meridian showed the best results (auc = 0.999). We can thus conclude that the calculation of an index for nasal step is a simple and effective adjunct to any interpretation system for visual fields.