Impaired visual flicker discrimination with hypothalamic pituitary disease.

In a group of 19 patients with pituitary dysfunction, we assessed peripheral visual fields and flicker discrimination. Two subgroups of patients were defined: (1) nonsurgical (n = 6), and (2) surgical (n = 13). For the nonsurgical group, 16.7% (2/12) of the eyes tested had impaired flicker discrimination, whereas 33% (4/12) had a deficit in visual field. For the surgical group, none of the patients had a deficit of visual field, whereas 60% (15/25) of the eyes tested had an alteration of flicker discrimination. For this latter group, abnormalities of the flicker fusion threshold were present several months to several years after surgery.