The scintillating scotoma or transient functional hemiopia : read before the Newark Medical and Surgical Society, Jan. 19, 1905 / by Charles J. Kipp.

  • Kipp, Charles John.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The scintillating scotoma or transient functional hemiopia : read before the Newark Medical and Surgical Society, Jan. 19, 1905 / by Charles J. Kipp. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    last name seems to me to be the most appropriate, though in many cases the defect occupies only a part of the half of the field. SYMPTOMS. The attack commonly begins with a disturbance of vision, which often greatly frightens the patient. If asked to describe the nature of the disturbance he can not, do it; he is conscious, however, that there is some- thing wrong with his sight. If he remains sufficiently calm to observe the phases of the phenomenon, he will notice if, for instance, he is looking at a printed page, that some of the letters or words either to the left or to the right, or perhaps also a little above or below the right or left of the point of fixation, are blurred, in a minute or two later they have entirely disappeared and are obliterated to his sight. Or, If he happens to be looking in the face of a person a few feet away from him, he will see only the left or the right eye, or only the right or left lower half of the face; or, if he is looking at a sign with the word Thompson on it, he will be able to see one-half of the word only, either the son or the Thomp; at the same time, his attention will be attracted by the appearance of a luminous disc at or near the place wher% the scotoma was first noticed. This disc is usually bounded by a far brighter and some- times serrated outline. Very soon the disc is changed into a ring which in a short time breaks near the fix- ing point; the ends separate more and more, so that soon he sees a luminous arc instead of a ring. The arc gradually becomes larger and at the same time float slowly on to the periphery of the field of vision, its convexity being directed either out, up or down. One of the ends of this arc often comes close to the point of fixation; it rarely reaches over the median line. With the enlargement of the luminous arc there is also an increase in the size of the defect towards the periphery, but it very rarely, if ever, reaches the fixing point. Sometimes the defect includes the entire half of the field of vision, and there is a complete hemiopia. The luminous arc or crescent gradually becomes fainter and then disappears entirely, in the outer periphery of the field of vision. The defect usually continues for a few minutes longer and then also disappears entirely, leaving a sensation of dazzling, which also vanishes after a' few minutes.