[Testing and approach when non-organic visual loss is suspected]

Colour Vision Disorder due to Conversion Disorders in Childhood

BACKGROUND

Non-organic vision loss can manifest in various ways, most commonly in the form of reduced vision and visual field defects. Colour vision disorders in the context of a conversion disorder have only rarely been reported.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This review presents the case of a 9-year-old boy with a colour vision disorder as the isolated symptom of a conversion disorder. The challenging in this case was an additional somatic comorbidity - a congenital red-green deficiency. Consequently it was difficult to make a diagnosis and to convince the parents.

CONCLUSION

It is important to rule out organic causes and establish the diagnosis of a conversion disorder. In these cases, multidisciplinary treatment is crucial for a successful outcome. The diagnosis may be especially challenging when the patients have both somatic and psychogenic complaints.

Dissociative Visual Loss in Children and Adolescents

Psychogenic vision disorders in children and adolescents are a common disorder primarily encountered by ophthalmologists at the onset because, as with other disorders of dissociation, the presentation suggests a neurologic or other somatic condition. Loss of visual acuity, blurred vision and visual field restriction-often described as tunnel vision-appears to be typical. The onset may be sudden, frequently related to a wide range of stressful life events (school failure, family conflicts, accidents). While the majority of these children quickly recover from their symptoms, a substantial percentage experience persistent symptoms or a fluctuating course. Due to the lack of efficacy studies of specific treatment protocols, diagnostic work-up and treatment suffer from a high degree of uncertainty. Differentiating dissociative visual loss from physical illness requires special expertise. The uncertainty of ophthalmologists and the other specialists involved in dealing with this clinical condition often delays the specialised treatment and may also trigger inadequate therapy with the iatrogenic risk of harming the patient. This article primarily describes the disorder-specific psychiatric diagnostic as well as the somatic differential diagnostic work-up and outlines the therapeutic principles of dissociative visual loss.