Monocular visual loss after closed head trauma: immediate resolution associated with spinal manipulation.

OBJECTIVE

To discuss the case of a patient who demonstrated that spinal injuries may cause both cortical and ocular visual loss that was ameliorated by manipulative care.

CLINICAL FEATURES: The patient suffered separate incidents of binocular and monocular loss of vision. A female child, aged 9 yr, presented with bilateral concentric narrowing of the visual fields that returned to normal immediately after spinal treatment. Approximately 1 yr later, she returned with monocular loss of vision after she was struck on the head by a ball.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME: The child was treated by spinal manipulation under anesthesia; the vision was found to be normal on awakening from the anesthesia. Both visual recoveries were authenticated by an independent ophthalmic specialist.

CONCLUSIONS

This case history adds to the other recorded occasions in which vision is noted to improve when the spine is manipulated. Discussion is directed to the basic pathogenesis: is her condition a form of psychoneurosis, is it a variant of migraine, or could it be a combination of both conditions?