A. Heijl - Böcker

The Seventh International Visual Field Symposium organized by the Interna­ tional Perimetric Society was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 6-10,1986. In many respects it was an exciting and fruitful meeting. The number of participants was greater than ever. The number of papers was too great to accommodate all of them. The quality of the papers reflects the continuously rising interest in perimetry in general and in automated perimetry in particular. Last but not least the social programme was organized in the, by now, almost classical friendly, enjoyable and humouristic style of the International Perimetric Society. This created an atmosphere of openness and free exchange of informa­ tion whICh was clearly also felt in the scientific sessions. The scientific part was divided in seven sessions with 44 spoken papers and a separate postersession during which the 46 posters were discussed. The major themes of the meeting were 'The influence of media-disturbances on the visual field' and 'Advances in perimetry in glaucoma with special emphasis on pro­ gression'. The session on 'media' provided interesting information on how the visual field was effected by preretinal filters. The authors either studied the influence of lens­ or corneal opacities or simulated opacities by special filters placed in front of the eye. In two papers the effect of cataract was qualified by photography or stray­ light measurements.

The 5th International Visual Field Symposium of the International Peri­ metric Society was held on October 20-23, 1982, in Sacramento, California, before the joint meeting of the International Congress of Ophthalmology and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. A majority of the members of the International Perimetric Society took part in the meeting together with many guests. The topics of the symposium were: glaucoma: correlation between the visual field and the optic disc; the visual field in low-tension glaucoma; neuro-ophthalmology and ergo-perimetry. Apart from this there were many papers on automated perimetry and general topics. The papers concerning the correlation of optic disc and visual field dealt with several aspects: peripapillary atrophy, defects in the retinal nerve fiber layer, fluorescein angiography and the characteristics of the glaucomatous excavation itself. New and interesting findings were presented showing that the careful, detailed observation of the disc and peripapillary area is re­ warding. The visual fields in low-tension glaucoma were studied extensively by four groups. Various approaches to the problem have led to some differences in results, which were extensively discussed. In the general glaucoma session the visual fatigue phenomenon was dis­ cussed extensively; apparently conflicting results were demonstrated re­ garding the stability of contrast threshold measurements during one and the same test session in glaucoma. The relationship between the visual field and the performance at the working place was considered in the session on ergo-perimetry.

The Seventh International Visual Field Symposium organized by the Interna­ tional Perimetric Society was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 6-10,1986. In many respects it was an exciting and fruitful meeting. The number of participants was greater than ever. The number of papers was too great to accommodate all of them. The quality of the papers reflects the continuously rising interest in perimetry in general and in automated perimetry in particular. Last but not least the social programme was organized in the, by now, almost classical friendly, enjoyable and humouristic style of the International Perimetric Society. This created an atmosphere of openness and free exchange of informa­ tion whICh was clearly also felt in the scientific sessions. The scientific part was divided in seven sessions with 44 spoken papers and a separate postersession during which the 46 posters were discussed. The major themes of the meeting were 'The influence of media-disturbances on the visual field' and 'Advances in perimetry in glaucoma with special emphasis on pro­ gression'. The session on 'media' provided interesting information on how the visual field was effected by preretinal filters. The authors either studied the influence of lens­ or corneal opacities or simulated opacities by special filters placed in front of the eye. In two papers the effect of cataract was qualified by photography or stray­ light measurements.