Blindness following gastrointestinal haemorrhage

Loss of vision is a rare but well known complication of distant and recurrent haemorrhage. It shares a poor prognosis, with only 10-14% of cases likely to make a complete recovery. Visual symptoms, due to ischaemic anterior optic neuropathy, vary from blurred vision to complete loss of vision in one or both eyes. The pathogenesis of such ischaemia remains unclear. Gastrointestinal bleeding seems to be the leading cause of loss of vision secondary to haemorrhage. However, complete and permanent blindness following gastrointestinal bleeding has rarely been reported. We report the case of a 51 -year-old woman who complained of complete blindness following blood loss, secondary to peptic ulcer, and discuss the pathogenesis of such a complication.