Central visual fields were investigated by automated static perimetry in a group of healthy myopic individuals with peripapillary crescents and tigroid fundus changes only. Results were compared with 'emmetropic' and 'myopic subjects without crescents' control groups. The sample comprised 122 young, healthy volunteers between the ages of 18.5 and 35.4 years, free from any ocular or systemic disease, with refractive errors ranging from +4.00 D to -25.75 D. Central visual fields were examined using programs 30-2 and 30-1 of the Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA), which in combination yield a test point resolution of 4.2 degrees within the central 30 degrees. Visual field analysis showed a decline in the differential light sensitivity in myopes with peripapillary changes only, compared with the control groups. These field changes became more pronounced as the degree of myopia, axial length and area of the peripapillary crescent increased. Results suggest that the sensitivity decline of the central field occurs in subjects with axial lengths above 26 mm and more than 5 D of myopia. Knowledge of the likely field defects encountered in myopia will assist practitioners to distinguish between physiological and pathological fields in myopes.