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Review
. 2021 Jul 28;8(1):42.
doi: 10.1186/s40779-021-00334-3.

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

Syeda F Hussain #  1   2 , Zara Raza #  1   2 , Andrew T G Cash  1   2 , Thomas Zampieri  3 , Robert A Mazzoli  4 , Randy H Kardon  5   6 , Renata S M Gomes  7   8   9
Affiliations
Review

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

Syeda F Hussain et al. Mil Med Res. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Military; Traumatic brain injury; Veteran; Visual impairment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summary of TBI and sight loss in military and veteran populations. TBI traumatic brain injury, TON traumatic optic neuropathy, GPs general practitioners
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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