Revisiting the Visual & Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injury – Edited by Irwin B. Suchoff, Kenneth J. Ciuffreda, Neera Kapoor, Marc B. Taub, Daniella Rutner, Christina Esposito

Tamara Petrosyan OD FOVDR
 
Book Review – Revisiting the Visual and Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injuries
 
Edited by Kenneth J. Ciuffreda, OD, PhD; Irwin B. Suchoff, OD, DOS (posthumous); Neera Kapoor, OD, MS; Marc B. Taub, OD, MS, EdD; Daniella Rutner, OD, MS, MBA; Christina Esposito, OD
 
Optometric Extension Program Foundation, 2025
 
Acquired brain injury (ABI) – whether from trauma, stroke, aneurysm, or post-concussion syndrome – remains one of the most under-recognized causes of persistent visual and vestibular dysfunction in both children and adults. For decades, behavioral and developmental optometrists have been the primary clinicians identifying and rehabilitating these deficits, yet the optometric literature has been scattered. This 2025 OEPF publication, lovingly shepherded to completion after the passing of the legendary Irwin Suchoff, is an impressive achievement that has been accomplished with great skill.
 
Twenty-five years ago, Irwin Suchoff, Kenneth Ciuffreda, and their colleagues produced the first modern textbook that placed optometry squarely at the table of acquired-brain-injury rehabilitation. This 2025 volume of Revisiting the Visual and Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injuries is the direct, long-awaited descendant of those earlier works. This new edition not only updates the earlier material but significantly widens and deepens it. The result is a comprehensive, single-source textbook that reflects the state of neuro-optometric rehabilitation as it is practiced today.
 
The book’s reference lists are heavily weighted toward the last ten years and the chapters are written by many of the world’s leading experts (Ciuffreda, Kapoor, Taub, Rutner, Gallaway, Hellerstein, Yadav, Scheiman, Marinoff, Schulman, Cohen, and many others). This volume covers the major domains in ABI, from pathophysiology to cutting-edge neuro-optometric rehabilitation. The book opens with a reprint of the original text, covering topics such as sequelae of brain injury, visual, vestibular, and neuropsychological consequences of ABI, and other core principles. The remaining chapters follow a consistent “A Current Understanding of …” format. Classic topics (accommodation, vergence, versional oculomotor control, egocentric localization, visual field defects) are joined by subjects that were only emerging when the previous editions appeared: visual midline shift syndrome, persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, objective biomarkers, ocular electrodiagnostics, dry-eye disease after brain injury, visual snow syndrome, and the visual sequelae of long COVID.
 
The following chapters are included in the book:
●     Visual & Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injury: An Overview
●     Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation of Acquired Brain Injured Patients
●     The Neuropsychological Evaluation: A Pathway to Understanding the Sequelae of Brain Injury
●     Neuropsychological Consequences of Mild Acquired Brain Injury and mTBI
●     Accommodation in Acquired Brain Injury
●     Oculomotor Consequences of Acquired Brain Injury
●     Vision Therapy to Treat Binocular Vision Disorders after Acquired Brain Injury: Factors Affecting Prognosis
●     An Expanded Visual Field Assessment for Brain-Injured Patients
●     Egocentric Localization in Acquired Brain Injury
●     Altered Visual Adaptation in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury
●     The Integration of Visual and Vestibular Systems in Balance Disorders—A Clinical Perspective
●     Vestibular Rehabilitation and Ocular Therapy in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Study
●     Vestibular Dysfunction Assessment, with Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment
●     Revisiting the Visual & Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injury
●     Life Symptom Questionnaires: Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms and Vision-Related Quality of Life
●     A Current Understanding of Objective-Based Vision Testing
●     A Current Understanding of Vergence Dysfunction
●     A Current Understanding of the Oculomotor System
●     A Current Understanding of Visual Information Processing
●     A Current Understanding of Ocular Electrodiagnostic Testing
●     A Current Understanding of Low Oculo-Apone, OD, PhD Management
●     A Current Understanding of Lens, Ocular, and Photophobia Management
●     A Current Understanding of Photophobia
●     A Current Understanding of Unilateral Spatial Neglect
●     A Current Understanding of Pediatric Concussion
●     A Current Understanding of Psychosocial Correlates
●     A Current Understanding of Biomarkers
●     A Current Understanding of Dry Eye Disease
●     A Current Understanding of Low Vision
●     A Current Understanding of Visual Snow Syndrome
●     A Current Understanding of Nutrition
●     Future Directions in Neuro-Optometry
 
Concussion clinics, stroke centers, and vestibular practices now regularly refer patients whose persistent symptoms are visual or visual-vestibular in origin. Clinicians who accept those referrals have long needed a single, current source that is both authoritative and immediately usable. The clinical material is detailed and practical. Each chapter in the book contains clinical photographs and/or useful tables. The book is written primarily for optometrists who provide vision rehabilitation services, but neurologists, physiatrists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists who work with brain-injured patients will find the explanations of optometric findings and interventions clear and useful. The multi-author nature of the text produces a small amount of predictable overlap, which for me personally is a positive, but might be seen as a minor issue set against the overall scope and currency of the content. The index, while highly comprehensive, is one element that could be expanded in a future printing.
 
For practicing neuro-optometrists and vision therapists, this book immediately becomes the primary reference material. For general optometrists who see the occasional post-concussion or stroke patient, it provides a clear, evidence-informed pathway into the field. For those who have been hesitant to enter the field, it provides a structured pathway from evaluation through rehabilitation. Allied rehabilitation professionals will also find it a reliable guide to what optometry can (and cannot) contribute to the brain-injury team.
 
This book arrives at a moment when neuro-optometric rehabilitation has moved from the margins of optometry into routine clinical responsibility. If you see even one patient per month with concussion, stroke, or any form of acquired brain injury, this book will pay for itself many times over in improved diagnostic precision and therapeutic success. In short, Revisiting the Visual and Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injuries has assumed the position its predecessors once held: it is now the definitive, up-to-date, single volume text on the subject and belongs on the shelf of every developmentally oriented and neuro-optometric practice.