The intersection of ophthalmology and neurology: Diagnosing acute strokes through visual symptoms

Purpose: To document how acute cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) present first to an ophthalmologist. Methods: Retrospective, observational, unicentric hospital-based study. The electronic medical records of new patients who presented to the Neuro-ophthalmology department of a tertiary eye hospital i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ruhel Kurudamannil Chacko, Devu Krishna, Karthik Kumar, Virna M Shah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-02-01
Series:Indian Journal of Ophthalmology
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/IJO.IJO_2456_23
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Summary:Purpose: To document how acute cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) present first to an ophthalmologist. Methods: Retrospective, observational, unicentric hospital-based study. The electronic medical records of new patients who presented to the Neuro-ophthalmology department of a tertiary eye hospital in the month of August 2022 were reviewed. Those with symptoms suggestive of an acute stroke requiring urgent neuroimaging were chosen for further study. Results: Out of the 710 new patients, 31 had a known CVA and presented with field defects (4.3%). We recognized nine new patients, subsequently diagnosed to have a CVA, initially presenting with ocular symptoms such as homonymous hemianopia in seven cases and two others as transient obscuration of vision and internuclear ophthalmoplegia. Conclusion: Posterior circulation strokes commonly present first to an ophthalmologist, the early recognition of which is of utmost importance.
ISSN:0301-4738
1998-3689