What is visual field testing?
Visual field testing checks your visual field to detect any central or peripheral (side) vision problems that can be caused by glaucoma and other ocular disorders as well as brain dysfunctions. Many times, patients with visual field defects do not notice them especially if they are affected peripherally. If left untreated, these ocular disorders can lead to severe vision loss. Locating the field defect allows the doctor to determine which disease is causing the problem. What conditions can it detect? Visual field loss can occur in diseases that affect the retina, optic nerve, or brain. Visual field testing can aid in the diagnosis of glaucoma to help the doctor assess optic nerve damage. It can also reveal diseases of the retina (the light-sensitive membrane that lines the back of the eye), such as macular degeneration, retinal detachment, and retinitis pigmentosa. Many systemic diseases can cause retinal and/or optic nerve damage resulting in visual field loss such as diabetes, hypert
