My blood pressure is what?!
A middle-aged patient presented to our practice complaining of complete loss of vision in his right eye. Three days prior, he reported that only the bottom portion of his field of vision was missing. He said that he never had any previous problems with his eyes or vision. He can't remember the last time he had his eyes examined. He has a history of systemic hypertension, but admitted that he stopped using his medication approximately three years ago. His blood pressure measured 170/100 in the practice that day (normal BP should typically be below 120/80). The image below was taken of his eye that day. Essentially, he had a "stroke" in his right optic nerve which caused it to swell and bleed. This was the reason why his vision was severely compromised. He has a 15-30% chance of this happening to the other eye.
This case illustrates the importance of having your eyes and health checked on a regular basis, even if you are not experiencing any symptoms. Early signs of hypertension in the eye could have been detected years earlier and a prompt referral to his primary care physician would've been made. This problem could have been avoided.
This case illustrates the importance of having your eyes and health checked on a regular basis, even if you are not experiencing any symptoms. Early signs of hypertension in the eye could have been detected years earlier and a prompt referral to his primary care physician would've been made. This problem could have been avoided.
