OBJECTIVE: To discuss the case of a patient who demonstrated that spinal injuries may cause both cortical and ocular visual loss that was ameliorated by manipulative care.

CLINICAL FEATURES: The patient suffered separate incidents of binocular and monocular loss of vision. A female child, aged 9 yr, presented with bilateral concentric narrowing of the visual fields that returned to normal immediately after spinal treatment. Approximately 1 yr later, she returned with monocular loss of vision after she was struck on the head by a ball.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME: The child was treated by spinal manipulation under anesthesia; the vision was found to be normal on awakening from the anesthesia. Both visual recoveries were authenticated by an independent ophthalmic specialist.

CONCLUSIONS: This case history adds to the other recorded occasions in which vision is noted to improve when the spine is manipulated. Discussion is directed to the basic pathogenesis: is her condition a form of psychoneurosis, is it a variant of migraine, or could it be a combination of both conditions?

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