
Migraine headaches, including migraine with aura with and without pain.Glaucoma (which can cause an arcuate, or arc-shaped, paracentral scotoma).Demyelinating conditions like multiple sclerosis.Infections, like syphilis and tuberculosis.Aneurysms, or bulges, in your arteries.Other types of cancers, such as craniopharyngioma.Injuries to the retina, including retinal burns.These include issues with your retina, brain and/or optic nerve. Needing bright light to be able to see well.Having difficulty seeing certain colors.A spot where your vision is blocked or disturbed.Signs and symptoms of a scotoma may include: Usually, it’s not noticeable because your brain fills in the empty spot. The optic chiasm is the part of the brain, near the base, where the optic nerve enters the brain.Įveryone has a scotoma at the point where the optic nerve goes through the retina.

Junctional: This type of scotoma happens because of damage to the place where the optic nerve and the optic chiasm come together.You may have more than one paracentral scotoma. In other words, it’s a spot slightly off to the side of where you’re looking. Paracentral: Healthcare professionals call the blind spot a paracentral scotoma if it’s within 10 degrees of fixation.Scintillating scotomas often don’t last long. This kind of scotoma often happens if you have a migraine with aura. It can go from light to dark and back again. Scintillating: This type of scotoma often appears to be jagged or wavy.Other people can kind of see straight ahead, but there’s an area where it’s not clear. Some people see it as a dark spot straight ahead. Central: In this type of scotoma, the blind spot is in the middle of your vision.Terms can also refer to being in one eye (unilateral or monocular) or in two (bilateral or binocular). Your healthcare provider will find a negative scotoma during testing. With a negative scotoma, you don’t know that you have a blind spot. With a positive scotoma, you’ll see something, like a spot of a particular color. There are also positive and negative scotomas. (Some people use the word “scotomata” for more than one scotoma.) The types may reflect where the blind spot occurs, like a central scotoma, and some may refer to a color that you see, like a xanthic scotoma. Yes, there are several different types of scotomas. The term “visual field” refers to the entire area that you see. The word “scotoma” is the Greek word for darkness. There’s an abnormality in your field of vision: you temporarily or permanently can’t see as well or can’t see at all in a certain location.Ī scotoma can happen with conditions that affect your optic nerve or certain areas in the brain. The optic nerve sends these signals to your brain.Ī scotoma may be a spot on the retina where the nerves don’t work and don’t send signals to your brain. The retina is a layer at the back of your eye that converts light into electrical signals. Most of these blind spots happen in one eye, but they can happen in both eyes. Scotoma (pronounced skuh- tow-muh) is the medical term for a visual field abnormality, or a blind spot.
