Diagnosaurus
Chronic visual loss
DDx
- Refractive error
- Cataract
- Macular degeneration (atrophic)
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Glaucoma
- Corneal opacity, eg, scar, pterygium
- Chronic uveitis
- Pituitary tumor (bitemporal)
- Other types of retinopathy, eg, hypertensive, sickle cell, severe anemia, radiation, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), talc (emboli from IV drug use)
- Cerebrovascular disease or brain tumor affecting visual pathways
- Intraorbital tumor
- Toxic optic neuropathy, eg, methanol
- Lens dislocation, eg, Marfan syndrome, homocystinuria
- Optic neuritis from multiple sclerosis
- Other worldwide causes: trachoma, Hansen’s disease (leprosy), onchocerciasis, xerophthalmia (vitamin A deficiency)
There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.
Last updated: March 5, 2015
Citation
Zeiger, Roni F.. "Chronic Visual Loss." Diagnosaurus, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2015. Emergency Central, emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114385/all/Chronic_visual_loss.
Zeiger RFR. Chronic visual loss. Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2015. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114385/all/Chronic_visual_loss. Accessed November 4, 2025.
Zeiger, R. F. (2015). Chronic visual loss. In Diagnosaurus (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114385/all/Chronic_visual_loss
Zeiger RFR. Chronic Visual Loss [Internet]. In: Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2015. [cited 2025 November 04]. Available from: https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114385/all/Chronic_visual_loss.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Chronic visual loss
ID - 114385
A1 - Zeiger,Roni F,
Y1 - 2015/03/05/
BT - Diagnosaurus
UR - https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114385/all/Chronic_visual_loss
PB - McGraw-Hill Education
ET - 4
DB - Emergency Central
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -
