Master Visual Field Defects - Bitemporal Hemianopia with Picmonic for Medicine

This is a type of partial blindness affecting half of each eye.

Vision is lost in the outer halves of both eyes.

This damaged sight leads to an inability to see objects on the periphery. Only objects in the center of the field of vision are seen, known as tunnel vision.

The location of the lesion is at the optic chiasm, the point where the optic nerves from the left and right eye cross.

This can be caused by a tumor of the pituitary gland. As the tumor enlarges, it compresses the suprasellar region and thus the optic chiasm, which surrounds the pituitary stalk.

This is a primary tumor of the pituitary gland. Those that compress the optic chiasm are usually non-functioning, meaning they do not produce hormones, and are most often benign.

Also known as Rathke’s pouch tumor, this is a neoplasm of the pituitary stalk, derived from the embryonic tissue. It often occurs in children.