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AIM—To study whether damage in the central 30° field of normal tension glaucoma (NTG) is relatively heterogeneous or homogeneous with respect to intraocular pressure (IOP) related damage. METHODS—Using the results of Humphrey perimeter examinations, the central 30° field was divided into four subfields; superior and inferior hemifields excluding the caecocentral field (30-2 program) and superior and inferior 10° hemifields (10-2 program). In 103 NTG cases, the intraindividual bilateral difference in the mean of total deviations (mean TD) in the four subfields was analysed by multiple linear regression to correct the effects of factors other than IOP. Explanatory variables were the intraindividual bilateral difference in the mean of clinic IOP (IOPmean), that in the ratio of area of peripapillary atrophy corresponding to each subfield to disc area, and that in myopic refraction. RESULTS—The intraindividual bilateral difference in the mean TD was significantly and negatively correlated with that in IOPmean in three of the above four subfields (p

To evaluate the possible correlation between quality of life (QOL) characteristics and grades of legal visual impairment.Quality of life characteristics associated with various causes of visual loss were investigated in 237 Japanese patients in the low-vision care clinic at Tokyo University Hospital, who had been issued the official ID and handbook for the physically handicapped. The main causes of vision loss were glaucoma (87 patients), macular degeneration (35) and diabetic retinopathy (34). Using a previously developed questionnaire, we assessed the correlation between the disability index (DI) as a quality of life characteristic, and the grade of legal visual impairment.Total DI was 1.24 +/- 0.43, showing a very significant correlation with Handicapped Handbook grades (r = -0.44, p.0001). The correlation coefficients were -0.63 (p0.0001) for diabetic retinopathy, -0.50 (p = 0.002) for macular degeneration, and -0.16 (p = 0.14) for glaucoma patients.The needs of low-vision patients correlate with the grade of legal visual impairment and it is important to understand that the needs of low vision patients differ for each disease.