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Eye Care Archive (Expert Forum)
Son sees a spot in vision
Our Ask A Doctor Ophthalmology Forum is where you can post your question and receive a personal answer from physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Son sees a spot in vision
by Tritchen, Apr 11, 2006 12:00AM
My 16 year-old son complained last week about a spot in his vision in his left eye. When it first appeared, he had a fever from a cold or flu, but had gone to school anyway. He said that as he put his (quite heavy) backpack on at school, he noticed seeing a spot, as if he had been looking too long at a light or a glare. The spot is small and localized to the left of his central vision field. Things through it look a little discolored and perhaps a bit blurry. The spot never wanders, nor appears to be a floater, and is only visible with his left eye.
When he said it had not gone away after a week, I took him to the emergency room. They could find no evidence of neurological problems via standard tests (no MRI or other technological tests, though). They transferred him to ophthomalogy, where the doctor did the usual tests: dilation, vision test, vision field tests. She could see nothing. She suggested that perhaps he has become aware of his blind spot, which seems weird to me. His half-brother had a brain tumor at age 7: medullo blastoma in the cerebral cortex. So, the ophthomalogist checked my son for any signs of tumor, and visually/physically spotted no signs that pointed to one. He did throw up two times last week, but each time was after indulging in a large amount of sweets and energy drinks, which often makes him nauseas.
The doctor asked us to return if the problem worsened, we noticed any more symptoms, or if the spot persists after two weeks. I'm trying not to panic. What do you think?
When he said it had not gone away after a week, I took him to the emergency room. They could find no evidence of neurological problems via standard tests (no MRI or other technological tests, though). They transferred him to ophthomalogy, where the doctor did the usual tests: dilation, vision test, vision field tests. She could see nothing. She suggested that perhaps he has become aware of his blind spot, which seems weird to me. His half-brother had a brain tumor at age 7: medullo blastoma in the cerebral cortex. So, the ophthomalogist checked my son for any signs of tumor, and visually/physically spotted no signs that pointed to one. He did throw up two times last week, but each time was after indulging in a large amount of sweets and energy drinks, which often makes him nauseas.
The doctor asked us to return if the problem worsened, we noticed any more symptoms, or if the spot persists after two weeks. I'm trying not to panic. What do you think?
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-OD-MP, Apr 11, 2006 12:00AM
tough to tell. if the vision/eye tests and visual fields were normal, it is unlikely that he has anything serious wrong with his eye. a brain tumor that affected his vision would almost certainly show up on a visial field test. its usually very sensitive to that sort of thing.
if the spot is dull black or grey, we're probably talking about a floater, even if the doc didnt see anything, and even if it doesnt sound like a floater to you based on your son's description. if the spot is BRIGHT and always present, that soulds either entopic or neurological, and you'll have a very, very difficult time finding someone to run a bunch of expensive tests (mri, etc) to see what it is. everyone will likely tell you to wait it out and see what happens.
we could be talking about a migraine aura or ocular migraine (even if your son does not have head/eye pain) here, which would be difficult to confirm. but when someone says a spot "doesnt go away", that makes migraine unlikely as well.
my guess is still floater, especially if the spot is grey or black. it makes the most sense. a spot in your vision that follows your vision (you look up, it moves up, etc) is almost always a floater. a spot in your vision that does not move (you look up, it still "looks" straight ahead) is pretty much impossible.
the serious stuff like retinal detachment, hole, eye tumor, bleeding, etc has assumedly already been ruled out with the dilated eye exam...
if the spot is dull black or grey, we're probably talking about a floater, even if the doc didnt see anything, and even if it doesnt sound like a floater to you based on your son's description. if the spot is BRIGHT and always present, that soulds either entopic or neurological, and you'll have a very, very difficult time finding someone to run a bunch of expensive tests (mri, etc) to see what it is. everyone will likely tell you to wait it out and see what happens.
we could be talking about a migraine aura or ocular migraine (even if your son does not have head/eye pain) here, which would be difficult to confirm. but when someone says a spot "doesnt go away", that makes migraine unlikely as well.
my guess is still floater, especially if the spot is grey or black. it makes the most sense. a spot in your vision that follows your vision (you look up, it moves up, etc) is almost always a floater. a spot in your vision that does not move (you look up, it still "looks" straight ahead) is pretty much impossible.
the serious stuff like retinal detachment, hole, eye tumor, bleeding, etc has assumedly already been ruled out with the dilated eye exam...
Member Comments
by aguista, Dec 16, 2008 10:30PM
A related discussion, "Spot in Vision" was started.
