Acquired night blindness due to bad eating patterns
A Parafita-Fernández1, M M Escalona-Fermín2, M Sampil1
1Ophthalmology Department, Complejo Hospitalario de Pontevedra, Pontevedra, Spain.
Abstract:
We report a case of acquired night blindness in a developed country (Spain) without risk factors for nutritional deficiency disease or family history of hereditary retinal disease. A 76-year-old woman presented with acquired night blindness of 6-month progression. After a thorough inquiry about eating patterns she becomes suspicious of vitamin A low dietary intake, which is analytically confirmed and successfully treated. Despite being very uncommon in our environment and even more in patients without digestive problems, in a patient reporting acquired night blindness vitamin A deficiency should not be discarded until eating patterns have been investigated. It might be especially relevant in certain socioeconomic situations and eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia nervosa.
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