Traumatic brain injury and sight loss in military and veteran populations- a review

• Published in: Military medical research Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 42
• Main Authors: Hussain, Syeda F, Raza, Zara, Cash, Andrew T G, Zampieri, Thomas, Mazzoli, Robert A, Kardon, Randy H, Gomes, Renata S M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 28-07-2021; BMC
• Subjects: Blindness - epidemiology; Blindness - etiology; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - complications; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - epidemiology; Edema; Epidemiology; Explosions; Explosives; Head injuries; Humans; Incidence; Military; Military Personnel - statistics & numerical data; Military service; Post traumatic stress disorder; Review; Traumatic brain injury; United States; United States Department of Veterans Affairs - organization & administration; United States Department of Veterans Affairs - statistics & numerical data; Veteran; Veterans - statistics & numerical data; Visual impairment; United States; Traumatic brain injury; Veteran; Visual impairment; Military
• ISSN: 2054-9369; 2095-7467; 2054-9369
• DOI: 10.1186/s40779-021-00334-3

War and combat exposure pose great risks to the vision system. More recently, vision related deficiencies and impairments have become common with the increased use of powerful explosive devices and the subsequent rise in incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Studies have looked at the effects of injury severity, aetiology of injury and the stage at which visual problems become apparent. There was little discrepancy found between the frequencies or types of visual dysfunctions across blast and non-blast related groups, however complete sight loss appeared to occur only in those who had a blast-related injury. Generally, the more severe the injury, the greater the likelihood of specific visual disturbances occurring, and a study found total sight loss to only occur in cases with greater severity. Diagnosis of mild TBI (mTBI) is challenging. Being able to identify a potential TBI via visual symptoms may offer a new avenue for diagnosis.