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24 - Blurring of vision andsudden loss of vision in pregnancy

from Section 5 - Medical and Surgical Emergencies during Pregnancy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2012

Edwin Chandraharan
Affiliation:
St George’s University of London
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran
Affiliation:
St George’s University of London
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Summary

There are certain pregnancy-specific conditions such as pre-eclampsia that may present with visual symptoms and signs. Benign intracranial hypertension may cause sudden loss of vision and may occur due to papilloedema. Incidence of optic or retinal arterial and venous occlusions may be increased in pregnancy, which may be due to the hyper-coagulable state that occurs due to changes in platelets, clotting factors and arterial-venous low dynamics during pregnancy. Diabetic retinopathy does progress in pregnancy and such a progression depends on the extent of retinopathy prior to conception, duration and control of diabetes. The common tumours that increase in size in pregnancy are pituitary adenomas and meningiomas. In patients who have high myopia, clinical examination of the retina with dilation is useful to determine whether there are any untreated retinal lesions. Assisted vaginal birth should be considered to avoid a prolonged second stage of labour with active pushing.
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Chapter
Information
Obstetric and Intrapartum Emergencies
A Practical Guide to Management
, pp. 163 - 169
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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