Tobacco-Alcohol Amblyopia With a Twist

A 41-year-old alcoholic noticed blurred vision on 4/10/90. Two days later, after awakening from a nap, he could not see the t.v. set or read with either eye. He had ingested approximately a dozen drinks (both beer and hard liquor) on the day of his initial visual loss. He denied any contamination of his alcohol, methanol ingestion, or other toxic exposure. There was no pain on eye movement, headache, or other neurological complaints. His medical history was notable for alcoholic cirrhosis with coagulopathy, and previous Gl bleed. He took vitamin K daily, and sporadically took folic acid, multivitamins, and Aldactone. His visual acuity 3 months earlier was 20/ 20 OU without correction. The patient never smoked. There was no history of trauma.