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Translucent grey patch, wavy/distorted vision, sparkles/stars in vision

I'm a 38 year old Caucasian male. Back about a year ago in April of 2013 I developed Posterior Vitreous Detachment in my left eye. At first I didn’t know what was going on(I saw floaters and it felt like I was looking through a cobweb, saw flashes of light and there was a small cluster of sparkles constantly in my lower left peripheral)...So I decided to Google my symptoms. While researching on Google I came across an Amsler grid and tried that out. I noticed some grid lines were not straight on the left side of my vision in my left eye. This scared me enough to go see an optometrist. The optometrist looked at my retina with the bright light and everything. They also gave me a Vision Field test, took a pic of my retina and also did the ultrasound(?) to see if my macula was torn. Also did the puff test for glaucoma. (I think the only thing I didn’t do was a fluorescein angiogram) Everything came back normal. They then sent me to go see a retinal specialist. He was unable to find anything wrong either. Since no one could find anything wrong I let it be and hoped the warped vision would subside.. Its been pretty much a year now and the warped vision is still there constantly. Hasn’t gotten any worse though. Anyways a few weeks ago when I was laying in bed in my dimly lit room. As I was looking up at the ceiling, I noticed a small dark area in the left side of my vision of my left eye. Almost like an enlarged blind spot. In a dimly lit room I can make anything disappear if I get it in that area of my vision. During the daytime light though, when I blink rapidly or squint I see a translucent grey spot with a bright edge. I don't notice it at all when my left eye is wide open. The sparkle cluster however is very apparent in bright daylight (I can see it in my left eye when both eyes are wide open) and it’s also become a larger cluster of sparkles. I went again to see the optometrist and they did the Vision Field test and took a pic of the retina again. All normal. So this time they are sending me to see a neuro-ophthalmologist. and probably an MRI scan.
Please note:I have pasted a link below to a person that had similar symptoms as me. That was 7 years ago. I am wondering if he found out what it was? Is there any way I can get in touch with him? This is the link to his question:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Eye-Care-Archive/fuzzy-patch-in-left-eye-off-center-of-vision--see-dancing-swirling-colored-lines-in-dark/show/372853#comments_header

Thank you
K Mack


This discussion is related to fuzzy patch in left eye off center of vision, see dancing swirling colored lines in dark.
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Avatar universal
What did you ever find out?

my best friend is having this right now & getting no where with the doctors,
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6 Comments
I came across ur post and unfortunately I had the same symptoms but didn’t find any explaination for that ...if u got to figure it out plz reply back and big thanks
No posts since 2014. Might leave a message on the person's home page.
I was diagnosed with persistent aura without infraction and put under oral medication just to keep posted
"Infarction" not "infraction"  
What do u think doctor does cause persistent scotoma in one eye cause I did MRI and showed nothing and did tests for optic nerve and was normal too
The problem would be caused by a problem in the eye, most commonly in the macula,  less commonly in the optic nerve due to something like optic neuritis, less common by damage to the visual parts of the brain.   In other cases scars or problem on the cornea or lens or vitreous.  Can't get more specific, too many possible causes.
233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
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Avatar universal
Thanks Dr Hagan and flossy93. I looked up Macula OCT. It is one of the tests that were performed on me before. I'll see if they can check again. I sent a message to two different people that had the same symptoms as me. I hope they get the email.
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233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
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Avatar universal
I'm sorry about your hard-to-diagnose vision problems.  Not that it makes things better, but you are not alone.  

Human vision is such a complicated process that there are many different causes of visual distortion and impairment, only some of which are ever identified through testing.  I am speaking from personal experience.

You asked if there was a way to get in touch with the other MedHelp poster who had similar symptoms.  You can try to send a message via MedHelp to that person, although if they did not sign up for email notification of messages they may not see it.  

The way to send a message is to click on the user's name (just go back to the post you linked in your original message), then choose 'Send Message' in the upper right menu bar when your click brings you to their profile page.

Dr. Hagan's recommendation that your future testing include an OCT scan of the retina is a good one.  This may be the ultrasound test you referred to having had done, but having it repeated n is important and may help.

You may already know that OCT is a painless, quick ultrasound test that generates a view of the retinal layers in the macula.  It can help show if there is any vitreous adhesion on the retina that can be 'tugging' and causing persistent sparkles or flashing.  Some retina surface membranes that can cause similar problems (as well as distortion) are transparent, and difficult to see even with the best diagnostic tools.  

I know it's frustrating that identifying elusive vision problems can be so difficult.  It's time consuming and mentally draining.  I saw three different retina specialists over 4 months before one doctor gave me an answer that made sense to me about a sudden retina problem.  And that issue never appeared on any test results; the doctor made the diagnosis based on symptoms and my vision/eye history only.

Good luck with your next appointment.  I hope you will post the results of your upcoming visit.  Sending positive thoughts up north to you!
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233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Keep your appointment with the neuro-ophthalmologist. Be sure your tests included a macular OCT

JCH MD
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