Abstract

SANTIESTEBAN FREIXAS, Rosaralis. Diagnostic error in epidemic optic neuropathy. Rev Cubana Oftalmol [online]. 2005, vol.18, n.2, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3070.

The optic form of the neuropathy epidemic that appeared in the last decade in Cuba has been discussed due to the possible hyperdiagnosis of the more than 22 000 notified cases. The main objective of this paper was to go deep into the characterization of this disease, to make known the congruency that should exist between the visual acuity and the vision of colors in the neuropathies of this type, and to estimate, on the basis of this element, the possible figure of diagnostic errors in 2 groups of patients with EON and of a third group of patients that did not improve with the treatment. In this group, there were 78 cases that were referred because they did not respond to vitamin therapy. The results showed congruency between the state of affection of visual acuity and the vision of colors in more than 90 % of the 960 cases from groups 1 and 2 with diagnosis of epidemic optical neuropathy confirmed by experts The results were different in the third group, where 96.1 % of the patients had false diagnoses of this disease since the beginning p 0.01. . The diseases leading to the diagnostic error more frequently were: neuropathies of other type, maculopathies, posterior polar cataract, hysteria and simulation

Keywords : Nutritional neuropathies; tropical neuropathies; Strachan's disease; optic neuropathies; alcoholic; tobacco or nutritional neuropathies; epidemic neuropathy of Cuba; Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

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