AAO 2026: NeuroOp Guru co-hosts recap subspecialty day takeaways

Transient vision loss, asymptomatic visual field defects, and double vision were among the topics of interest at Neuro-Ophthalmology Subspecialty Day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2026 Annual Meeting, held October 9-12 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Drew Carey, MD, and Andrew G. Lee, MD, cohosts of the Ophthalmology Times NeuroOp Guru video podcast series, recapped Subspecialty Day, which focused on helping comprehensive ophthalmologists recognize dangerous neuro-ophthalmic conditions.

Carey is the Neil R. Miller Rising Professor of Ophthalmology in the division of neuro-ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Lee is chair of the Blanton Eye Institute at Houston Methodist Hospital and a professor of ophthalmology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Triage, visual fields, and double vision

Carey and Lee said Subspecialty Day is meant to demystify neuro-ophthalmology for comprehensive ophthalmologists while making sure they can recognize dangerous findings. One section was devoted to triage, specifically how to separate benign from dangerous causes of symptoms that sound benign, such as transient vision loss. Several sessions addressed the same question of whether a presentation is something serious, and the broader approach of recognizing, triaging, and referring.

A second section covered visual fields, including asymptomatic visual field defects. Carey and Lee said the sessions focused on recognizing dangerous findings, such as an enlarged blind spot that may represent papilledema, or defects that may point to intracranial abnormalities including stroke and tumors. Some of these defects, Carey and Lee said, call for evaluation without delay.

A third section addressed double vision. Although the complaint reaches ophthalmologists first, Carey and Lee said it can be associated with underlying systemic disorders, other neurologic disorders, and potentially life-threatening conditions, even though it sounds like a benign complaint.

Carey and Lee said the cataract section appealed most to comprehensive ophthalmologists. It covered diagnosing neuro-ophthalmic problems when a cataract is not the cause because the problem was there before, and when cataract surgery unmasks something underneath. It also addressed the role of the cataract surgeon when neuro-ophthalmic problems are seen only after cataract surgery fails to fix the problem.