central scotoma
Last reviewed 01/2018
Central scotoma is an area of depressed vision that corresponds with the point of fixation and interferes with central vision. It suggests a lesion between the optic nerve head and the chiasm.
Possible causes include:
- multiple sclerosis - which may cause unilateral or asymmetrical bilateral scotoma
- methyl alcohol - which may cause symmetrical bilateral scotoma
- nutritional causes - which may be due to, e.g. alcohol or tobacco amblyopia, B12 deficiency
- vascular lesions - which may cause unilateral scotoma
- gliomas of the optic nerve - this may cause unilateral scotoma
- simple glaucoma - which may initially cause an off-centre scotoma