Ocular Complaint Leads to an Unusual Diagnosis

​​BY ​​​GURDEEP​ SINGH NAGI, MD; BHAVINI TAILOR, ​MD; & ​AHMED RAZIUDDIN, MDA 40-year-old man with no significant past medical history presented to the emergency department with visual problems. He said he had noticed about four days earlier a dark red circle over any object on which he tried to focus. The condition had been constant and had not improved or worsened over the past few days. He also said it did not matter whether he was focusing on an object that was near or far.The patient had seen an optometrist who recommended he have blood work done, but did not specify what exactly to test. He was unsure of what to do and decided to come to the emergency department. He also complained of general body aches and pains for several weeks. He denied any trauma to the eyes or head. The patient also revealed that he had been bleeding from the gums for a few weeks, and had a bloody nose prior to that. He denied fever, chills, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, and blood in the urine or stool.The patient's past medical history was unremarkable except for a case of cellulitis on his face, for which he was treated with cephalexin and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. He had no other surgeries or allergies. Family history included breast cancer in his mother. The patient smoked every day, drank occasionally, and did not use any recreational drugs.The patient appeared pale, and was anxious and in mild acute d...
Source: The Case Files - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: research