Scottish TB patient suffers vision loss

BMJ Case Reports authors have described their treatment of a 48-year-old woman who temporarily lost vision in her right eye while receiving treatment for tuberculosis (TB).

The patient initially presented to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee with a two-month history of chest pain and night sweats.

She had a normal neurological examination. Her visual acuity was 6/6 in both eyes and she read 17/17 on Ishihara colour plates.

The patient experienced unilateral painful visual loss in her right eye eight weeks into her TB treatment with Rifater.

She received high dose methylprednisolone followed by a tapering course of oral prednisolone to treat her vision loss.

Six months following treatment the patient’s visual acuity in her right eye was restored to 6/6 with only a slight reduction in colour vision.

Her pulmonary TB was fully treated without clinical or radiological recurrence.

Image credit: Pixabay/toubibe