THE BLINDSPOT SYNDROME

Abstract

IN 1947 a squint syndrome was described in which the physiologic blindspot, created by the optic papilla, seems to play an especial role. 1 Recognition of this syndrome resulted from a study of the field of binocular vision in 296 cases of concomitant esotropia in older children and adults. For distant fixation the physiologic blindspot of the deviating eye was found to overlie the point of fixation in 80 cases; i.e., the deviation was 12 to 18 degrees. In most of these cases the physiologic blindspot was only part of a suppression scotoma and its position was inconstant; however, there were 7 cases in which it seemed probable that the physiologic scotoma provided the essential mechanism for the alleviation of diplopia and played an important role in maintaining the esotropic state. These 7 cases had in common certain symptoms and signs, and the responses to treatment and clinical courses were