Diagnosis

 

At the Annan Retina Eye Center, we will examine your eyes thoroughly and discuss with you in detail your previous medical history. We will ask you to read the eye chart and check your retina for any blockages or bleeding. Other tests we may conduct include:

 

Visual Field Test – Looking into a machine you click a button each time you see a light. The machine examines any loss in peripheral vision.

 

Fluorescein Angiography - We will inject a harmless dye in your arm which will move through your bloodstream to your retina. A special camera takes pictures of your eye to show which blood vessels are blocked.

 

Optical Coherence Tomography - We use a machine to scan your eyes to make a detailed image of the retina.

 

Treatments

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Time is of the essence when it comes to BRAO. Minutes count in order to save your vision after an eye stroke. You may avoid lasting injury if we can clear the central artery blockage and restore blood flows within 90-100 minutes. But after 4 hours, the blockage could damage your vision for good.

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We offer our patients the following treatments:

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• Eye massage - We will massage your closed eyelid with a finger to try and dislodge the clot.
   

• Carbon dioxide-oxygen - You breathe in a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen to increase blood flow to the retina and widen the arteries.
   

• Paracentesis - To reduce pressure and increase blood flow to the retina we use a small needle to remove a few drops of fluid from the front of your eye.
   

• Medication – We may prescribe drugs to bust clots or to lower the pressure in your eyes. These include drugs used for glaucoma, like acetazolamide (Diamox).

 

The Annan Retina Eye Center recommends evaluations every 1 – 2 months until your vision is stable or until your vision recovers. More than 80% of patients who have BRAO will recover visual acuity of 20/40 or better, although it is common to have permanent blind spots or distortions.

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Central Retina Artery Occlusion (CRAO)

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Central retinal artery occlusion is a painless sudden loss of vision usually occurring in one eye and is considered a stroke of the eye. Most people who have CRAO can barely count fingers in front of their face or see light from the affected eye.

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With CRAO the retina will be pale, and the vessels narrowed. If treatment is sought within the first few hours of onset, the retinal signs may not yet be present, and a fluorescein angiogram may be required to confirm the diagnosis. This procedure, which is very safe, entails injection of fluorescein intravenously with retinal photography afterward.

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No treatment method has been shown conclusively to benefit CRAO. But if you are seen within 24 hours after acute vision loss begins, we may be able to dislodge the embolus. If the embolus can be dislodged, blood flow to the retina may be restored partially. Vision loss is less likely if treatment is sought within 90 minutes. However, after 90 minutes of blood flow loss the retina suffers irreversible injury. Despite all efforts to preserve vision, even when you are seen immediately, most patients suffer severe and permanent visual loss.