BLUEFIELD ENTOPTIC PHENOMENON

   Also known as Scheerer's phenomenon, after the German ophthalmologist Richard Scheerer. Both terms refer to an * entoptic phenomenon characterized by tiny bright dots moving quickly and semi-randomly across the visual field, especially when viewed against a background of bright blue light. The blue-field entoptic phenomenon is a physiological effect attributed to the movement of lymphocytes (or erythrocytes, in a different reading) within the capillaries overlying the retina. The sudden acceleration of these bright dots is considered synchronous with the systole. Although the phenomenon had been described by at least a dozen authors, it was Scheerer who in 1924 first drew clinical attention to it. The blue-field entoptic phenomenon should not be confused with * muscae volitantes.

   References

   Priestly, B.S., Foree, K. (1955). Clinical significance of some entoptic phenomena. Archives of Ophthalmology, 53, 390-397.

   Scheerer, R. (1924). Die entoptische Sichtbarkeit der Blutbewegung im Auge und ihre klinische Bedeutung. Klinisches Monatsblatt für Augenheilkunde, 73, 67-107.

   Sinclair, S.H., Azar-Cavanaugh, M., Soper, K.A., Tuma, R.F., Mayrovitz, H.N. (1989). Investigation of the source of the blue field entoptic phenomenon. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 4, 668-673