Nutritional amblyopia combined with night blindness

Abstract

We report the case of an 18-year-old male who developed both nutritional amblyopia and night blindness. After nearly a lifetime of consuming a bizarre diet limited to French fries, pretzels, crackers, and carbonated sodas, he had a relatively sudden onset of night blindness and bilateral visual loss. The night blindness resolved after taking daily oral vitamin A supplements. Visual acuity gradually improved from light perception, both eyes, to 20/20 right eye and 20/25 left eye after multivitamin supplementation and vitamin B12 injections. The patient had bilateral optic atrophy and bilateral ring scotomas around a small area of fixation. The patient was unable to modify his diet despite professional advice and counseling. © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.