Confrontation visual field testing is an important part of a routine ophthalmological or neurological examination.
[1][2] Test using a red target can detect red-desaturation, a sign of early optic nerve disease.
[1][6] Move a finger or bead-on-a-stick inwards from an area outside the usual 180º visual field, and ask the patient when they first see the targets.
[1] Record the type of target used and whether there are any significant abnormalities in the patient's visual field.
[3] The Confrontation visual field testing is a simple, easy, quick and inexpensive clinical technique that can be used for gross assessment of large-scale visual field problems, such as homonymous and heteronymous hemianopias, quadranopsia etc.
[1] But testing is less useful for detecting arcuate scotoma, bitemporal hemianopsia, and visual field loss associated with parasellar tumors, glaucoma, and compressive optic neuropathies.