A Case Report of Sudden Loss of Vision in Viral Encephalitis - Review of Literature

We present a case of a 36-year-old woman with sudden loss of vision that was initially diagnosed as cortical blindness. After extensive workup herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was detected in the patients cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Our patients clinical features, response to treatment as evidenced by improvement in vision, cognition and CRP, as well as the CSF PCR result, are convincing evidence of atypical HSV-1 encephalitis masquerading as an episode of sudden loss of vision.