Please give me some basic information on the eye condition know as
"brushes of Worrell."  I am not sure of the spelling of Worrell.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 02 Sep 2003 09:07 PDT

I have not found any ophthalmological reference that resembles the
phrase "brushes of Worrell."

It might be helpful if you could tell us where you encountered this
term, and provide any additional details that you're aware of.

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Clarification of Question by mosie-ga on 02 Sep 2003 10:51 PDT

Brushes of Worrell.  When many (most?) normal persons close their
eyes, they  will vizualize revolving discs or fibers, usually in
conditions of changing ambient light (dawn).  An Optometrist in
California (with U..S. and Bosnian training), told me of their name
and said they were normal. I have personally experienced the "brushes"
on many occasions, usually in the AM.  No references in Routine Visual
or Neurological physiology.

It sounds as if you may be describing phosphenes:

"PHOSPHENES are bright lines and dots that appear when you close your
eyes or sit in the dark.  With sensory deprivation, some drugs, and
meditation and/or trance states, this phenomenon becomes more
pronounced and the patterns (called ENTOPTICS) increase in complexity
and may include flashes, spirals, circles, or zigzags that move in
concentric circling, horizontal streaking, vertical falling, or
scattering fragments.  Motifs may overlap and transform into one
another."

http://www.mineralarts.com/artwork/phosphenes.html

There is an entoptical phenomenon known as Haidinger's brushes:

http://world.std.com/~mmcirvin/haidinger.html

Hi mosie,

The closest I can come to finding anything resembling your term has to
do with "branches" and "whorls."

There are changes to the cornea in the eye termed, Amiodarone
keratopathy, that are associated with the use of certain drugs
primarily: Chloroquine, chlorpromazine, indomethacin, tilorone,
amiodarone, and tamoxifen.

Referring to  the deep epithelial cells of the cornea, the below
article states:
 
"...In grade 2, the line has a number of branches, and grade 3 shows
an increase in the number of branches to form a whorl-like pattern."

Ocular complications from amiodarone
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:Yox8r3mmsQkJ:www.optometry.co.uk/articles/19990326/Swann.pdf+eye++whorl+branches&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

There is also a characteristic whorl-like corneal opacity in people
with Fabry's disease.

Fabry's Disease
http://www.thedoctorsdoctor.com/diseases/fabry_disease.htm

That's the best I can do for you,

-K~