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Central serous retinopathy: an unusual cause of acute visual loss

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2015

Jennifer L. Chu  and
Jeffrey Tyberg
Jennifer L. Chu*
Affiliation:
St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON
Jeffrey Tyberg
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON
*
St. Michaels Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8; [email protected].

Abstract

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Ophthalmologic complaints represent approximately 2% of emergency department (ED) visits. Acute vision loss is the most serious of such presentations and requires prompt assessment for a treatable cause. The differential diagnosis for acute vision loss includes retinal detachment, macular disorders, vaso-occlusive disorders, temporal arteritis, neuro-ophthalmologic disorders, and functional disorders. We report the case of a previously healthy 33-year-old man who presented to the ED with acute bilateral vision loss that was ultimately diagnosed as central serous retinopathy (CSR), an idiopathic, self-limited condition that typically affects males age 20 to 50 years. This condition is not mentioned in standard emergency medicine textbooks or the emergency medicine literature, and our hope is that our report will serve to illustrate a typical case of CSR and help prompt emergency physicians to consider this diagnosis in the appropriate circumstances.

Keywords

ophthalmologyretinal disordersvisual loss
Type
Case Report • Rapport de cas
Information
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine , Volume 15 , Issue 5 , September 2013 , pp. 311 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2013

References

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