Central visual field in diabetes.

Little detailed work has been reported on the central visual field in diabetes. Scott (I957) stated that "the causation of scotomata by endogenic toxins is extremely rare"; DuboisPoulsen (1952) reported a study of diabetic patients using rod scotometry (Livingston, 1943) in which central field scotomata were found in eyes with no visible retinopathy. The original reference to diabetic patients has not been traced (Livingston, personal communication). King, Dobree, Kok, Foulds, and Dangerfield (I963), during trial of a corn oil diet, found central field scotomata, using the Bjerrum screen, in diabetic patients with exudative retinopathy, which persisted after the exudates had cleared. Lakowski and Aspinal (I966) mentioned three types of defects in diabetic visual fields, found by static methods using the Goldmann perimeter. These defects were a general loss of sensitivity, peripheral field losses, and central field losses; it is not clear whether retinopathy was present or not. The present paper reports the investigation of central visual fields of diabetic patients with and without retinopathy, using a new central field scotometer (Roth, I968).