Young patients with sub-optimal visual acuity and no obvious ophthalmic pathology were found to complain of a 'shadow' or decreased brightness, with no metamorphopsia, at the point of regard, suggesting a pathology anterior to the neuroepithelium of the retina. Examination of fourteen such patients with a fundus contact lens revealed a focal vitreo-foveal detachment in eleven patients. Nine patients had a white plaque attached to this detachment, with a corresponding visible loss of superficial retinal tissue in one case. One patient had minute lamellar holes bilaterally. We feel that tenuous attachments of the vitreous body to the fovea could exert traction on the vitreo-retinal interface or shrinkage of a fibrocellular membrane on the inner foveal surface could lead to the observations made by us. The diagnosis of such lesions could be used to determine the cause of a sudden loss of vision in young patients, preventing the needless use of expensive and invasive investigations.