Scintillating scotoma
visual aura
Scintillating scotoma is a visual aura that was first described by 19th-century physician Hubert Airy (1838–1903). Originating from the brain, it may precede a migraine headache, but can also occur without headache (also known as visual migraine). It is often confused with retinal migraine, which originates in the eyeball or socket.
Signs and symptoms
Many variations occur, but scintillating scotoma usually begins as a spot of flickering light near or in the center of the visual field, which prevents vision within the scotoma area. It typically affects both eyes, as it is not a problem specific to one eye. The affected area flickers but is not dark. It then gradually expands outward from the initial spot. Vision remains normal beyond the borders of the expanding scotoma(s), with objects melting into the scotoma area background similarly to the physiological blind spot, which means that objects may be seen better by not looking directly at them in the early stages when the spot is in or near the center. The scotoma area may expand to occupy one half of the visual area of one eye, or it may be bilateral. It may occur as an isolated symptom without headache in acephalgic migraine.
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This entry incorporates text from “Scintillating scotoma” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.