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Alcohol-tobacco amblyopia
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Alcohol-and-tobacco amblyopia usually develops in alcoholics and tobacco smokers who have a deficiency of protein and B vitamins. Most patients disrupt diet, receiving calories mainly from alcohol.
Alcohol-tobacco amblyopia manifests itself as a gradual, progressive, bilateral, usually symmetrical impairment of vision and dyschromatopsia.
[Symptoms of alcoholic-tobacco amblyopia
The disc of the optic nerve at the onset of the disease is normal in most cases. Some patients have mild temporal palliation, dashed hemorrhages on or around the disk, and minor swelling of the disc.
Defects of the visual field: bilateral symmetrical centrocecal scotoma. The edges of defects are difficult to define with a white object, lighter - with red, because its area is larger.
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Treatment of alcoholic-tobacco amblyopia
Weekly injections of 1,000 units of hydroxy cobalamin for 10 weeks and multivitamins. Patients should eat a balanced diet and refrain from alcohol and smoking.
The prognosis is good at the beginning of the disease and if the patient is treated, however, vision can recover slowly. In far-reaching and refractory cases, a persistent decline in vision is associated with the development of optic atrophy.