Fixed spot in field of vision

[mikem1234]

Right in the middle of my field vision in my left eye there is a fixed dark spot.  The thing is this spot is "visible" only when I'm using a microscope.  At 400x magnification I can clearly see this spot is triangular shaped and it is somewhat transparent -- I can see the microscope field through the spot.   The spot is not small and quite annoying. When not using microscopes my eyesight is normal without any spots but I think I feel some discomfort in this eye, like there is a small scratch or something. A few weeks ago I went to an opthamologist who said he didn't see anything abnormal.  He stuck a big lens in the eye and shone a bright.  The exam lasted all but a minute.  Unfortunately, I neglected to mention to the doctor that the spot is fixed.  He assumed the spot was a floater which became magnified.

I'm going to make another appointment but if you any of you have any ideas, I'd like to hear.  Thank you.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

1. No it is not unusual for traumatic cataracts to develop many years later.
2. I have learned that there is no way to predict accurately how fast a cataract will grow.

JCH MD

[mikem1234]

Doc, I finally have a diagnosis.  My opthamologist said I have a very small cataract.  Since I had an injury to this eye when I was 5 or 6 years old (poked with a stick -- injury was severe enough to keep me in hospital for days), he said this was probably a traumatic cataract.  I'm now 37 years old and frankly if I did not work with microscopes, I would not have even noticed this problem.  I suppose the cataract is getting worse as I only noticed this a few months ago and I've been working with microscopes for at least 10 years.  My questions are (1) how unusual is it for a traumatic cataract to appear after so many years.  (2) what are my chances of avoiding cataract surgery down the road?
Thank you

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No that type of injury would not cause spots in vision.
JCH MD

[mikem1234]

Doctor, I remembered about two months ago I got a tiny splash of liquid nitrogen into my eye.  Unfortunately I did not flush out the eye with water after this happened.  My eye stung just for a few seconds.  Is it possible this event caused some sort of damage and explains the symptoms I'm having?  It also seems like my affected eye is slightly red most of the time.  

Thanks in advance for your help,
Mike

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

you are welcome JCH MD

[mikem1234]

Doctor, thank you very much for your help.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I would say that as long as nothing changes you need not spend more time or money on consultations. If something gets worse then proceed with further testing by a retina Eye MD

JCH MD

[mikem1234]

Thanks for your speedy reply!  I did the test you mentioned with no problems whatsoever.  I'm 37 years old by the way.  Anything else I should try?  Thanks for your help.
Mike

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Read about the amsler grid test on the internet. Print out a grid and test yourself and see if you can see the spot. A;lso try and get your next evaluation with a retina eye MD ophthalmologist. You may need a macular OCT

JCH MD

[mikem1234]

I forgot to mention that I'm severely near-sighted (-11) with moderate astigmatism.  Also the type of microscope makes no difference.  I use phase contrast, polarized light and stereo microscopes.