OCULAR PHENOMENA PRODUCED BY INTRACRANIAL LESIONS INVOLVING OPTIC TRACTS NEAR THE CHIASM

Cases of intracranial lesions affecting the chiasm have been studied in order to ascertain whether some ophthalmologic method of examination could be found to enable the ophthalmologist to determine more definitely the origin or position of the lesion. The cases reported here have been classified into four groups, according to the origin of the lesion, in order to show the striking similarity in the ocular phenomena and the changes in the sella turcica as revealed by the roentgenogram. The four groups are: Group 1. Pituitary tumors: (a) without glandular disturbances; (b) with acromegaly, and (c) with diabetes insipidus. Group 2. Intracranial tumors, not of pituitary origin, affecting the chiasm. Group 3. Nasopharyngeal tumors affecting the chiasm. Group 4. Syphilitic basal meningitis affecting the chiasm. In the series of forty-six cases of pituitary tumors, twenty-seven did not show glandular disturbances (Group 1a, Fig. 1); seventeen were definitely acromegalic (Group 1