Acute painless loss of vision Flashcards
What investigations are indicated in the pt w/ APVL?
Visual acuity test
Visual fields
Pupil exam
Fundocopy (+ red reflex + anterior segment inspection using torch)
How are the causes of acute painless loss of vision (APVL) grossly split?
Monocular causes
Binocular causes
Retinal causes
What are the monocular causes of APVL
1) Acute corneal disease
2) Anterior chamber haemorrhages (cause hyphaema)
3) Vitreous heamorrhage
4) Optic neuritis/ischemic optic neuropathy
5) Acute cataract (rare)
What are the signs + symptoms of acute corneal disease?
Pain (painless if due to HSV) Cloudy cornea (∴ visual loss)
What are the causes of acute cataract?
Being struck by lightening (very acute) Porous lens (over a few weeks)
What are the common causes of vitreous heamorrhage
1) proliferative diabetic retinopathy
2) retinal tears
3) posterior vitreous detachment
What is special about ischemic optic neuropathy?
It will never cross the midline unless there are multiple pathologies.
What are the retinal causes of APVL?
1) Vein occlusion: Branch retinal Central retinal 2) Arterial occlusion Branch retinal Central retinal 3) Retinal detachment 4) Macular haemorrhage
What are binocular causes of APVL?
1) Optic chiasm pathology (such as pituitary adenoma)
2) Optic nerve pathology
3) Cortex pathology (such as migraine)
What signs occur with APLV due to pituitary adenoma?
Bilateral afferent pupil defect
What are common causes of optic nerve pathology that causes binocular APLY?
1) Infiltrative disease
2) Severe papilloedema
3) optic neuritis (such as sarcoid)
What are some cortical causes of APLV?
1) migraine which is more common with age (35+)
or
CVA
What visual signs do you get with migraine?
Temporary – scintillating scotoma just off to left or right of central vision
What visual signs do you get with CVA?
occipital lobe – homonymous hemianopia
What is the presenting complaint of branch retinal vein occlusion?
Variable degree of central vision
blurring on waking in the morning (note that if the vein occlusion is not central it will not be nocticed by pts)