Central Serous Chorioretinopathy and Diagnostic Challenges in Emergency Settings

Sudden visual disturbances are of significant concern and often among the most challenging scenarios for emergency providers in underserved communities without on-call ophthalmology services. Vulnerable areas in emergency training vary among nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and even physicians. Urgent and non-urgent ophthalmology disorders are commonly cited in the literature as one of the most challenging areas for emergency providers. Ophthalmology is frequently not included as a mandatory clinical rotation in medical school, resulting in limited exposure to this specialty. Similarly, anecdotal evidence suggests that nurse practitioner and physician assistant training often lack sufficient exposure to ophthalmology. The purpose of this emergency ophthalmology case study is to review the management of central serous chorioretinopathy, an acute and often benign eye disorder, and to examine how it escalated to a workup for a cerebrovascular accident in the absence of an ophthalmology consultation.