Visualization of Wilbrand's Knee

In 1904 and 1915, German ophthalmologist Hermann Wilbrand reported that inferonasal crossing fibers within the chiasm curved anteriorly into the contralateral optic nerve. This anatomic bend, known as Wilbrand's knee, is classically cited as the explanation for the contralateral superotemporal visual field defect that may appear when a lesion affects the optic nerve at its junction with the chiasm (the so-called "junctional scotoma"). More recent reports, however, have called into question the existence of Wilbrand's knee or suggested that it may simply be an artifact of monocular enucleation.