Blindness (rapid onset unilateral loss)
Possible causes of rapid-onset unilateral blindness include:
- retinal artery embolism
- retinal vein thrombosis
- vitreous haemorrhage
- temporal arteritis
- retinal detachment
- optic neuritis
- migraine
- acute glaucoma
Sudden loss of vision is an ophthalmological emergency and requires immediate referral to the eye emergency department.
References
- World Health Organization. Blindness and vision impairment. Oct 2022 [internet publication].
- GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators; Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study. Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Feb;9(2):e144-60
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