1. False-positive anti-retinal antibodies as a cause of psychogenic vision loss.
- Author
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Cai Y and Pulido JS
- Subjects
- Blindness diagnosis, Blindness psychology, Diagnosis, Differential, Electroretinography, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Positron-Emission Tomography, Retina pathology, Visual Acuity, Visual Fields, Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic immunology, Blindness immunology, Retina immunology
- Abstract
Purpose: To report a case of psychogenic vision loss caused by false-positive anti-retinal antibody testing., Methods: We describe a case of visual and systemic symptoms following anti-retinal antibody detection. The case was analyzed for clinical presentation, diagnosis, and consequences of false-positive testing., Results: The patient presented with decreased vision without detectable pathology on ophthalmic examination. Tests were ordered in search of a diagnosis, including an antibody test. Following detection of anti-retinal antibodies, the patient developed worsening visual symptoms and systemic manifestations. A repeat antibody test performed at our institution revealed negative results, which, in conjunction with lack of visual field expansion, confirmed our suspicion of psychogenic vision loss., Conclusions: Laboratory screening may be limited by test specificity and can lead to false-positive results, affecting the patient psychologically and clinically. Care must be taken in patients with positive anti-retinal antibodies to ensure the presence of definitive disease before initiation of treatment.
- Published
- 2014
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