Challenging the Dogma – It Takes 5 Years for Visual Field Defects to Appear After Glaucoma Damage

Abstract

Recently, I had an opportunity to observe a postgraduate evaluation. One of the questions was; how long does it take for a visual field defect to appear in glaucoma? The favoured answer was 5 years. This led me to ponder on the authenticity of this commonly taught concept.       Conceptually, all glaucoma patients progress, albeit at different rates and their rate of change is the most objective measure to guide treatment decisions and interventions. A rate of progression resulting in significant decrease in vision related quality in a patient's lifetime requires expert input and many a times an aggressive management.