A 44-YEAR-OLD man has gone partially blind after falling asleep face down following a drunken night.
The man in Taiwan lost sight in one eye after sleeping on it and rupturing his eyeball.
The New England Journal of MedicineA man in Taiwan went permanently blind in one eye after a night of binge drinking and falling asleep face-down[/caption]
The New England Journal of MedicineThe affected eye also appeared swelled up[/caption]
The New England Journal of MedicineThe pupil didn’t move or react to the light[/caption]
The unnamed patient sought emergency care in Pizu City, Taiwan after he experienced pain and blindness for three days.
The man said the symptoms appeared after a night out when he had gone drinking and taken medication for insomnia.
He then passed out for three hours in a position that put pressure on his eyeball.
During doctor’s examination, his left pupil didn’t react to light and showed no movement.
The affected eye was also swollen up, and the man was diagnosed with ophthalmoplegia – paralysis of eye muscles.
The medics found that the subconjectival blood vessels – located just below the transparent surface of the eye – burst due to the pressure exerted on the eye.
This caused the tissue around the eye to swell and resulted in a haemorrhage.
The patient was diagnosed with ischemic optic neuropathy (ION) and choroidopathy.
Ischemic optic neuropathy occurs when blood cannot flow properly to the eye’s optic nerve.
This could eventually lead to a lasting damage to this nerve, which is responsible for carrying signals from the eyes to the brain and turning them into images you see.
Damage from the neoropathy usually results in a permanent sight loss, but people with ION might still preserve some peripheral vision.
This condition has historically been named “Saturday night retinopathy” for its link to the use of alcohol.
Choroidopathy causes fluid to build up under the retina – the back part of the inner eye that sends sight information to the brain.
Symptoms can include objects appearing small or farther away, dim and blurred blind spot in the center of vision, and distortion of straight lines.
The experts said: “There is no consensus on management of the condition.”
Although some patients recover their vision, the patient in this case has not reported regaining eyesight four months post-incident.