Loss of color vision

  My 12 year old daughter was rolling down a gentle hill at a
  picnic, with other children. The day was hot and humid. Suddenly,
  she complained of dizziness. I brought her down the slope. She
  said she saw double of everything and that everything was colored
  in shades of blue.
  My wife and I took her to the hospital. A Catscan revealed no problems.
  She was keptovernight. Next morning, the double vision had
  passed, but blue ?? and the absence of all other colors except
  black ?? remained. That has continued now for almost a month.
  She was examined by an opthalmologist as well as a neurologist.
  The opthalmologist found no evidence of problems in her eyes.
  The neurologist said that he EEG and MRI/MRA results were
  normal also.
  She continues to see everything in shades of blue. Do you know
  of such cases? Could it be a migraine?
  Any information will be welcome. Please reply
  to my e-mail address. Thanks.
  Akhlesh Lakhtakia
  --
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  Akhlesh Lakhtakia  (***@****)
  Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
  Pennsylvania State University
  227 Hammond Building, University Park, PA 16802-1401, USA
  Tel: [phone]             Fax: [phone]
  http://www.esm.psu.edu/HTMLs/Faculty/Lakhtakia/ALakhtakia.html
  STF Homepage: http://www.esm.psu.edu/HTMLs/STF/default.html
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Hello A.L.!!
The loss of color vision is known as achromotopsia in medical terms and is an extraordinarily rare symptom, most often only affecting half of the visual field when a stroke damages a particular part of the brain called the fusiform gyrus. Other very rare retinal disorders or mitochondrial disorders might cause it, but these would likely be detected by an opthalmologist. There is such a thing as retinal migraine but it produces temporary loss of vision (temporary blindness) rather than loss of color vision. If this is an inherited problem with color vision, the mother would likely have it as well. If the symptoms were fluctuating where she would see normal sometimes and in funny colors at others, migraine would be a good possibility. If there is headache, this increases the possibility more. The only other explanation would be a very unusual psychological or stress-related problem called conversion disorder, but blindness is usually the complaint more than loss of color. If the problem persists, reevaluation of your daughter by the neurologist and opthalmologist would be appropriate. There is also another test known as a visual evoked potential that can detect more subtle abnormailities of vision but not what is causing the abnormality. Please rememeber that information we provide on the forum is intended for general informational purposes only, and that the actual diagnosis and treatment fo your daughter's specific medical condition should be strictly in conjunction with her treating physician(s). We hope you find the information helpful. If you would be interested in having your daughter evaluated at the Cleveland Clinic, our number is 1-800-223-2273; ask for pediatric neurology, and neuroopthalmology (Dr. Kosmorsky) appointments.