Amaurosis Fugax

Causes

• Amaurosis fugax is thought to result from a clot of plaque in the carotid artery breaking off and traveling to the retinal artery in the eye. This blocks the artery for a time and causes loss of vision in that eye for as long as its blood supply is cut off.
• Cholesterol plaques form in the carotid arteries, causing the narrowing of the arteries.  Emboli made of blood or cholesterol may then be released, blocking the retinal arteries.
• Blood clots from heart valves or the heart may be occure due to heart disease
• Retinal vascular spasm in younger individuals

Symptoms

• Completely painless process (unless associated with a migraine)
• Monocular complete or partial loss of vision that may last seconds to (occasionally) 1 to 2 hours
• Visual loss may be described as a "curtain lowering" in eye

Signs

• Normal eye and funduscopic examination (except if coexisting disease)
• Occasionally, signs of central retinal artery occlusion are seen on funduscopic examination.
• Concomitant contralateral arm or leg weakness or numbness may be present if this is an embolic phenomenon.

Treatment

If there is evidence of blockage of more than 70% of the carotid artery, the patient may be considered for surgery to remove the blockage.

The decision to do surgery will be based on the presence and severity of other medical problems and the general health of the patient. If the patient is not a surgical candidate, treatment with another blood thinning agent may be warranted.

Lowering cholesterol, removeing high blood pressure and cessation of smoking can help decrease the risk of atherosclerosis.