Blinded by the depths: A case of acute loss of vision in a scuba diver.

Decompression illness (DCI) is a well-known medical emergency among scuba divers, aviators, astronauts, and compressed-air workers. It includes two diseases: decompression sickness (DCS) and arterial gas embolism (AGE). Vision changes are one of the symptoms that can happen in patients with DCI, but acute complete loss of vision is extremely rare. We report a 28-year-old male patient, a novice scuba diver who presented to our hospital with complete loss of vision while he was ascending from 18 m depth. The diagnosis of AGE was made depending on the history, clinical examination, and radiological studies. The patient underwent two sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) (U.S. Navy treatment Table 6A) and achieved complete recovery. A high index of suspicion for DCI must be kept in mind when evaluating a scuba diver with blindness.