Neuroscience/Chronic visual Loss

Objectives

As a primary care physician, you should be familiar with the major causes of chronic, slowly progressive visual loss in an adult patient - namely:

and be able to identify the basic characteristics of each.

In addition, you should be able to:

Measure intraocular pressure with a tonometer
Evaluate the nerve head, classifying it as normal, glaucomatous, or abnormal but non-glaucomatous.
Evaluate the clarity of the lens
Evaluate the function and appearance of the macula.

To achieve these objectives, you should learn

To recognize those characteristics of the optic disc useful in determining whether a given disc is normal or abnormal
To recognize a cataract and to determine its approximate potential effect on the patient's vision
To determine whether a cataract is the only cause of a patient's visual loss.
To examine the macula with the ophthalmoscope and recognize the signs and symptoms of maculopathy