Vision changes after stroke

A stroke can cause significant changes in vision. A person recovering from a stroke may experience different changes in vision, depending on the size and location of the stroke.

According to the American Stroke Association, many stroke survivors report vision difficulties including poor visual memory, impaired balance, reduced depth perception, and related problems. regarding seeing and reading. Here are some common vision problems that people recovering from a stroke experience.

Partial loss of vision

Partial vision loss aka visual field impairment causes loss of left or right vision, in the upper, lower field of view, or a combination of areas. Human vision depends on the brain, when a stroke causes homochromatic dyschromia, both eyes lose the ability to see in sync with each other. Therefore, visual field impairment can lead to both eyes being unable to see left, right…

The symmetry of vision loss resulting from a stroke is often associated with the site of the hemiplegia. Partial vision loss can occur when a stroke damages an area of ​​the temporal, parietal, or occipital lobes. The specific location of the stroke determines the exact area of ​​vision affected. Injury to the right part of the brain causes loss of vision on the left side, while damage to the left part of the brain causes loss of vision on the right side.

Loss of sight

Visual agnosia is somewhat different from homonymous dyschromia. Visual apathy is a condition in which people recovering from a stroke lose the ability to pay attention and perceive one side of the body. Visual loss often occurs when a stroke affects the right parietal lobe.

Blurred vision

A stroke weakens the eye muscles in such a way that one eye cannot fully align with the other, leading to the possibility of binocular vision, which results in blurred vision. Blurred vision occurs due to a stroke of the brain stem or cerebellum. Sometimes cortical and subcortical strokes can also produce diplopia, which causes blurred vision.

Loss of vision

A stroke usually causes complete vision loss but occurs in only one eye, rarely in both eyes. Complete loss of vision in one eye usually occurs due to a blockage of an artery that supplies blood to the eye.

Some stroke survivors may lose vision in both eyes after a stroke that affects both occipital lobes. This condition is called cortical blindness. People with cortical blindness cannot perceive visual messages, but their eyes do respond to light. As a result, people who cannot accept the reality of vision loss often behave like normal people, communicating through their responses to the light they face.

Visual hallucinations

Visual hallucinations can occur after a stroke. Hallucinations are experiences or perceptions of things that are not real. A condition characterized by the occurrence of visual hallucinations in stroke survivors is Charles Bonnet syndrome. This syndrome causes conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, stroke, brain tumors, and head trauma. Stroke survivors with Charles Bonnet syndrome are often aware that the objects they see are not real.

A stroke in any visual area of ​​the brain can cause Charles Bonnet syndrome, but is most commonly caused by a stroke of one or both occipital lobes.

Loss of color vision

Another rare condition that people recovering from a stroke can experience is loss of color vision, which means they only see black, white, or gray. This condition is caused by damage to certain parts of the brain or by a genetic defect. Melanoma is one of the rarest visual effects of a stroke.

Blind fugax

Fugax blindness is a visual change associated with a transient ischemic attack (TIA). This is a temporary, reversible stroke. Symptoms of fugax blindness include a feeling of darkness or a black screen shining directly down on one eye’s vision. Sometimes fugax blindness is described as sudden or partial loss of vision. The main feature of fugax blindness is a fairly rapid improvement due to temporary ischemia.

Mr. Chi
(According to VeryWellHealth)