OBJECTIVE: To discuss a patient whose spinal abnormalities may have caused subliminal visual field loss.

CLINICAL FEATURES: A 22-yr-old man suffered from a painful neck. His vision was in the normal range, as measured by computerized static perimetry.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME: To define a guideline for a proposed investigation into visual field changes with spinal adjustment, his visual fields were tested before and after a normal office spinal manipulation. After this procedure, there was a measurable rise in the visual sensitivity of both eyes.

CONCLUSION: The use of computerized static perimetry changes to measure the cerebral effects of spinal manipulation is recommended for future chiropractic research.

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text is available by subscription. Click on the above link and select a publisher from PubMed's LinkOut feature.