Diseases of the eye in chronic alcoholism

Abstract

Chronic alcoholism is a disease affecting all the vital organs, including development of functional and organic eye disorders in 2-70% of cases. Alcoholic (ethanol) amblyopia with such features as slow gradient visual acuity decrease in both eyes (although visual acuity can decrease down do a very low grade, the complete blindness is rare) is among the disorders in patients with chronic alcoholism. Fundus of the eye at the beginning of the disease is normal in most of the cases, sometimes an optic nerve congestion and mild features of optic neuritis can be observed. Sometimes optic nerve hyperemia or anemia can be observed. Simple optic nerve atrophy seen as the temporal parts or the entire disc blanching can be seen at the late stages. Alcohol toxicity can also result as peripheral vision decrease, with degree of it increasing depending on the clinical manifestations of the alcoholism. Generally, eye disorders in patients with chronic alcoholism in most of the cases manifest as central retinal area damage and combination of retinal and optic nerve involvement.