Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, September 1989, Volume 9, Issue 3

Exercise-induced transient visual events in young healthy adults.

Six patients with a variety of exercise-induced transient visual events are described. Each patient was in excellent health and most exercised regularly. None of the patients had a history of migraine, and only one gave a history of migraine in the family. One patient reported a single event, and the others reported recurrent events. These recurrent visual events were stereotyped except in one patient who experienced two distinctly different visual phenomena. Two patients described classic scintillating scotomas. Two described flickering phenomena in the central vision. Three described monocular events: one reported central scotomas, another blurring in the temporal field, and the third reported amaurosis. In no case could it be established that these events were associated with underlying disease. We believe that exercise-induced migraine equivalents are the most plausible explanation for these transient visual symptoms.