This leakage can only be seen on a careful, dilated eye examination since the eye looks normal from the outside. Distorted central vision and loss of reading vision occurs when the leakage involves the macula. People who live in endemic areas, such as the Ohio-Mississippi river basin, who are exposed to the histoplasmosis fungus early in life are at greatest risk for developing eye problems later in life. A person with ocular histoplasmosis cannot infect other people since the organisms die soon after the initial infection. Adults who move to endemic areas, although they may get infected with the histoplasmosis fungus, do not usually develop eye disease.
People usually have no eye symptoms during the initial infection.
The choroidal scars that later form also do not usually cause any symptoms. Patients never go completely blind, since the part of the eye responsible for peripheral vision is not affected by this disease. How do we diagnose the Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome. The most important step in accurately diagnosing the ocular histoplasmosis syndrome consists of a careful eye examination by an eye doctor familiar with all aspects of this disease. During the examination, your doctor will dilate your pupils and look for histoplasmosis scarring, leakage, and bleeding.