The Cup-Disc Ratio and Ocular Hypertension

As previously shown, ocular hypertensives have, on average, larger cup-disc ratios than age-matched controls, even when both have entirely normal visual fields.1 It is also true that the prevalence of clinically detectable nerve fiber layer defects is generally similar in the two groups, although it increases with the size of the cup-disc ratio and the age of the subject, and is more common among ocular hypertensives than among controls who have large cups.1 In addition, nerve fiber layer defects are more likely to be diffuse among ocular hypertensives than are (apparently nonspecific) slits. It is possible that the larger cups observed in ocular hypertensives result from an independent association between ocular hypertension and large scleral canals. We think it more likely, however, that the greater prevalence of large cups represents that proportion of ocular hypertensives who have begun to develop optic nerve damage and that such.