Visual Field Defects In Patients Research Articles

Rehabilitation training of homonymous visual field defects in patients with postgeniculate damage of the visual system

Training-dependent improvement of visual behavior after postgeniculate damage of the visual system was studied in 10 patients. The patients, all with computer-tomographically proven damage and a lesion chronicity of 8 weeks to 4.7 years, were subjected to a special exploration training of at least 10 sessions or 1100 trials. Before and after training, extensive perimetric tests were performed to determine possible training-related visual changes. It was found that the training program improved visual exploration considerably and induced qualitative shifts in exploration strategy even for patients who had failed to adopt these strategies for more than 3 years postlesion. On the other hand, a training-based visual field enlargement was not supported when applying strict criteria. It is concluded that specific and systematic exploration training can be of significant help for improving visuo-spatial behavior in hemianopic patients, but that a reliable visual field enlargement is unlikely to occur in unselected patients trained and examined under standard conditions.

Correlation of color vision deficits and observable changes in the optic disc in a population of ocular hypertensives.

Both glaucomatous cupping and the presence of acquired color vision deficits have been reported to be precursors to the onset of visual field defects in patients with suspected glaucoma. To examine the relationship between early glaucomatous cupping and acquired color vision anomalies, we performed anomaloscope (Pickford-Nicholson) and Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue color vision tests in 48 ocular hypertensive eyes with either clinical evidence of early glaucomatous cupping (group 1) or no evidence of glaucomatous cupping (group 2). All patients had normal visual fields, as determined by extensive static perimetry of the central visual field and kinetic perimetry of the peripheral visual field. Although the overall incidence of blue and blue-green color vision anomalies in the ocular hypertensives was comparable with that reported in previous studies, we found no clear association between early glaucomatous cupping and color vision anomalies. The relationship between these two precursors to visual field loss remains unclear.

Optic Disk Topography and Visual Field Defects in Patients with Increased Intraocular Pressure

One hundred one eyes of 54 ocular hypertensive patients were studied to determine the value of optic disk evaluation in predicting the presence or absence and the location and type of visual field defects by means of binocular slit-lamp examination and projected 35-mm monocular color slides. We suspected visual field loss erroneously in only one patient, and failed to detect ten (16%) of 61 eyes with field defects. An examiner experienced in slit-lamp evaluation of the optic disk can accurately predict the presence, absence, and location of field defects in most cases by stereoscopic evaluation of disk topography.

Retrochiasmal visual field defects from multiple sclerosis.

The purpose of this paper is to report five cases of retrochiasmal visual field defects in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), to comment on the incidence of this, and to review the literature on this subject. Holden 1 states that in advanced cases of MS almost any type of visual defect may be observed; however, there is general agreement that homonymous hemianopsia is a rare occurrence in this disease. Nielsen 2 reports that it is occasionally noted as a transitory phenomenon in early cases of MS. Alpers 3 notes that although homonymous hemianopsia is rare, it has been observed in MS. Oppenheim, Rae, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society 4 report its occasional occurrence. Luban 5 noted the rarity of homonymous hemianopsia in inflammatory diseases and in demyelinating diseases, in contrast with its frequent occurrence in neoplastic and vascular conditions. Savitsky and Rangell 6 studied 50 verified cases of MS

Language disorders in braindamaged patients. The effects of homonymous visual field defects.

The occurrence of homonymous visual field defects in patients with organic brain damage indicates a functional defect in the posterior region of the cerebral hemisphere contralateral to the impaired visual field. 3 In addition to the direct effects of impairment of the visual fields, therefore, braindamaged patients with right homonymous visual field defects might be expected to exhibit symptoms of left hemisphere damage, and brain-damaged patients with left homonymous visual field defects might be expected to exhibit symptoms of right hemisphere damage. The present investigation was one of several studies intended to explore possible differential changes of behavior that may occur in relation to the side of the visual field that is impaired in patients with homonymous visual field defects. Brain-damaged patients with left homonymous visual field defects, brain-damaged patients with right homonymous visual field defects, brain-damaged patients with no evidence of visual field defects, and nonbrain-damaged control subjects