Homonymous Defect of Macular Vision in Ischemic Stroke

It is generally believed that a homonymous defect of macular vision (HMV) is caused by a small lesion restricted to the occipital lobe tip and rarely results from ischemic stroke. The incidence of HMV was studied retrospectively in 54 patients with infarction of the posterior cerebral artery territory who underwent Goldmann's visual field test. HMV was found in 6 patients (11%). In all of them, HMV was first dismissed due to a confrontation test of visual fields at the bedside and later detected by Goldmann's visual field test. All had a relatively large infarction extending from the occipital lobe tip to the posterior part of the calcarine cortex and/or the neighboring subcortical regions. Stroke-induced HMV can be caused by a large lesion involving the occipital pole and may not be so rare as generally considered.