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Patient-Centered Focused Review| Volume 364, ISSUE 4, P492-498, October 2022

Hepatic cortical blindness

  • Author Footnotes
    † The first 2 authors (JX and JH) contributed equally to this work.
    Junrong Xu
    Footnotes
    † The first 2 authors (JX and JH) contributed equally to this work.
    Affiliations
    Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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  • Author Footnotes
    † The first 2 authors (JX and JH) contributed equally to this work.
    Jie Hao
    Footnotes
    † The first 2 authors (JX and JH) contributed equally to this work.
    Affiliations
    Emergency Department, Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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  • Yi Gao
    Affiliations
    Department of Nephropathy, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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  • Lei Shang
    Correspondence
    Correspondence to: Lei Shang and Lu Qian
    Affiliations
    Department of Health Statistics, Air Force Medical University, No.169 Changle west road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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  • Lu Qian
    Correspondence
    Correspondence to: Lei Shang and Lu Qian
    Affiliations
    Department of General Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, No.10 Eastern section of the third Fengcheng road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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  • Hengfang Zhao
    Affiliations
    Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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  • Author Footnotes
    † The first 2 authors (JX and JH) contributed equally to this work.

      Abstract

      Hepatic cortical blindness is an unusual clinical complication of hepatic encephalopathy, and its epidemiology has not been studied in detail. Herein, we present a case report of a 37-year-old male with liver cirrhosis and immunoglobulin A nephropathy who noted visual impairment after eating high-protein food. In addition to the case report, all previously documented cases of hepatic cortical blindness occurring across the globe published from inception until August 2019 were reviewed. The incidence of hepatic cortical blindness is low, and diagnoses are easily missed. The diagnosis of hepatic cortical blindness is dependent on symptoms, and patients may experience several attacks of vision loss. Most patients experience complete blindness, but vision loss recovers within 10 min to one month. Early detection and therapy for hepatic encephalopathy may improve patient outcome.

      Keywords

      Abbreviations:

      CB (cortical blindness), CT (computed tomography), EEG (electroencephalogram), HBV (hepatitis B virus), HCV (hepatitis C virus), HE (hepatic encephalopathy), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), PRES (posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome), VEP (visual evoked potential)
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