Sudden blindness in the eye is commonly caused by obstruction of the central or branch arteries of the retina, where the loss of vision due to central retinal artery obstruction can be more sudden and dramatic, with vision dropping to several fingers or light perception in a short period of time. Other common causes are diseases of the optic papilla and optic nerve, such as optic papillary optic neuritis and retrobulbar optic neuritis. Other common causes include massive accumulation of blood in the vitreous body, where the patient may feel a sharp loss of vision, a fog in front of the eyes, a detachment of the retina or a hemorrhage in the macula, all of which may cause a sudden loss of vision. These conditions require prompt medical attention.