THE MISSING TEMPORAL CRESCENT

PURPOSE: We studied clinically the representation of the monocular tem poral crescent in the human visual cortex and noted the importance of using the perimetric techniques best suited to detect this visual fiel d defect and to study patients in whom the temporal crescent is missin g. METHODS: Goldmann perimetry and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging were performed in two patients with vascular lesions located i n the anterior striate cortex. RESULTS: A monocular visual field defec t, the missing temporal crescent, was found on the side contralateral to the lesion. CONCLUSIONS: The perimetric magnetic resonance imaging correlation is in exquisite agreement with recent information about th e representation of the visual field in the human primary visual corte x. Reports of this specific perimetric finding are rare, in part becau se of underdetection with currently used perimetric techniques that co ncentrate on the central 30 degrees of the visual field.