5-Minute Emergency Consult
Visual Loss
Visual Loss is a topic covered in the 5-Minute Emergency Consult.
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Basics
Description
Description
- Decrease in visual function (i.e., visual acuity, visual fields, blurry vision)
- Visual loss has many etiologies and can be caused by multiple body systems
Etiology
Etiology
- Ophthalmologic:
- Eyelid or tear film abnormality
- Anterior segment (cornea, anterior chamber, iris, lens)
- Posterior segment (vitreous, retina, optic nerve)
- Posterior to the eye (optic nerve, chiasm, radiations)
- Traumatic:
- Corneal abrasion
- Hyphema
- Lens dislocation
- Ruptured globe
- Commotio retinae
- Retinal detachment
- Retinal/vitreous hemorrhage
- Retrobulbar hemorrhage
- Intraocular foreign body
- Neurologic:
- Cerebral (cerebrovascular accident [CVA]) or intracranial pathology (mass lesion)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Optic neuritis
- Migraine
- Cardiovascular system:
- Embolic
- Thrombotic
- Ischemic
- Hypertensive events
- Immunologic system:
- Uveitis
- Giant cell arteritis
- Infection:
- Orbital cellulitis/abscess
- Cavernous sinus thrombosis
- HIV optic neuropathy or cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis
- Endocrine:
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Thyroid disease may cause diplopia (muscle hypertrophy) or corneal erosions
- Toxic:
- Methanol (acute severe loss, subacute optic atrophy)
- Licorice (transient loss, self-limited)
- Digitalis (flashing lights, color changes)
- Amiodarone (rare cause of optic neuropathy)
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Citation
Rosen, Peter, et al., editors. "Visual Loss." 5-Minute Emergency Consult, 5th ed., Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2016. Emergency Central, emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307479/all/Visual_Loss.
Visual Loss. In: Rosen P, Shayne P, Barkin AZ, et al, eds. 5-Minute Emergency Consult. 5th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2016. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307479/all/Visual_Loss. Accessed October 20, 2019.
Visual Loss. (2016). In Rosen, P., Shayne, P., Barkin, A. Z., Wolfe, R. E., Hayden, S. R., Barkin, R. M., & Schaider, J. J. (Eds.), 5-Minute Emergency Consult. Available from https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307479/all/Visual_Loss
Visual Loss [Internet]. In: Rosen P, Shayne P, Barkin AZ, Wolfe RE, Hayden SR, Barkin RM, Schaider JJ, editors. 5-Minute Emergency Consult. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2016. [cited 2019 October 20]. Available from: https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307479/all/Visual_Loss.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
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