Gifford Symptom

Gifford's sign is a symptom in ophthalmology described by the American ophthalmologist Henry Gifford in the early 20th century.

The symptom is as follows: with damage to the optic nerve and atrophy of the optic disc, the patient experiences an expansion of the blind spot. This is due to the fact that with disc atrophy, individual optic nerve fibers innervating the central fovea of ​​the retina are lost, which leads to an increase in the retinal blind spot.

To identify Gifford's symptom, perimetry is performed - a study of the visual field. In this case, an expansion of the blind spot beyond the physiological norm is detected.

Gifford's symptom is an important diagnostic sign of optic nerve atrophy of various origins (toxic, vascular, degenerative). It allows you to clarify the diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment.

Gifford's symptom (H.gifford, 1875-1958, English ophthalmologist), another definition of gifford's symptoms, is a symptom that appears in the eye when the retina is damaged. N. Gifford was known as an ophthalmologist, MD, and a specialist in blind spots. This symptom was also known under another name, gozosthenopia, diplopia.

Gifford was born in Germany in 1834. He was a famous German ophthalmologist, and at the beginning of the 20th century he worked at the universities of Berlin and Heidelberg. One of the most interesting cases in his practice was the story of a patient who had a defect in the eye macula (macular degeneration of the macula).

This patient developed blurred vision in the center of the eye, but could still see his surroundings when looking at the periphery of the eye. Gifford concluded