All these cases share a thread of commonality, that is, the vision has dropped dramatically over a short period of time without a traumatic or obvious precipitating event. The task at hand is to sift through the relevant historical information, perform an examination, possibly order lab tests and treat. One may note that this approach is the cornerstone for virtually all medical conditions and should be employed whenever dealing with a medical complaint.
| Case 1 | A 67 y/o male with hypertension, and poor compliance presents complaining of sudden decreased vision in right eye. | Solution and references |
| Case 2 | A 21 y/o female states that over the last 2 days her vision has decreased in her right eye to counting fingers vision. Denies any pain or trauma. | Solution and references |
| Case 3 | A 55 y/o female 12 h after coronary artery bypass surgery complains of being unable to see from her left eye. There is no pain and externally the eye appears normal. | Solution and references |
| Case 4 | A 40 y/o male states he lost vision in his right eye after seeing flashing lights and "spider webs." He is a -10.00 myope. | Solution and references |
| Case 5 | A 77 y/o female is sent to you from geriatrics. She was initially being worked up for lethargy and weight loss. Complained of vision coming and going for several days and now states she cannot see anything at all out of both eyes. | Solution and references |
| Case 6 | A 38 y/o male with longstanding insulin-dependent diabetes presents with sudden loss of vision in his left eye. Has had only moderate control of his diabetes over the last several years stating he takes his insulin when he feels like it. | Solution and references |
| Case 7 | A 34 y/o male with AIDS on AZT and a sulfa drug presents with painless loss of vision in his right eye. This has worsened over the last several days. | Solution and references |