title: Pearls: visual loss.
abstract: The clinician who is evaluating a patient with visual loss faces a large initial differential diagnosis. By taking a systematic approach to the history of the present illness, including reviewing systems, examination, and subsequent testing, several potential pitfalls will be avoided, and a brief differential diagnosis list can be generated. This article uses illustrative cases to present a variety of history, examination, and testing pearls for diagnosing the source of visual loss.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. wtc@med.umich.edu
authors.forename: Wayne T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Cornblath
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005123:Eye / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000379:methods; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D014787:Vision Tests