blindness
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Introduction
Inability to see. May be of central or peripheral origin.
Legal blindness: better eye is 20/200 or less, or visual field deficit in both eyes
Also see visual impairment
Etiology
- sudden visual loss:
- retinal detachment
- vitreous hemorrhage
- occlusion of the central retinal artery
- temporal arteritis
- progressive or permanent blindess
- macular degeneration (most common cause in Caucasians)
- glaucoma (most common cause in African Americans)
- cataracts
- diabetic retinopathy
Complications
Management
- sudden visual loss: refer to ophthalmologist
- progressive or permanent visual impairment
- address treatable causes with ophthalmologist
- refer to vision rehabilitation specialist as needed
- BrainPort V100, a device that can help blind people process images by using their tongues, FDA-approved June 2015