Atherosclerotic carotid artery disease in patients with retinal ischemic syndromes.
Publication/Presentation Date
6-1-1988
Abstract
The extracranial carotid systems of 105 patients with retinal ischemia were examined using B-mode ultrasonography with integrated pulsed Doppler. Sixty-four patients had amaurosis fugax (AF), 17 central retinal artery occlusions (CRAO), and 21 branch retinal artery occlusions (BRAO). The prevalence of carotid stenosis (greater than or equal to 60%) ipsilateral to the symptomatic eye was low (16%). Eighty-six percent of AF patients had either no plaque causing less than a 60% stenosis. A significant proportion of subjects with normal duplex scans had alternative explanations for their retinal ischemia (eg, migraine, cardiac embolus). Patients with Hollenhorst plaques were more likely to have stenotic or ulcerated plaque (p = 0.04). The degree of carotid stenosis correlated significantly with the number of vascular risk factors identified in individual patients (p = 0.02). The presence of risk factors was more common in CRAO and BRAO patients compared with the AF group. Combined ultrasound-Doppler investigations of the carotid bifurcation are valuable noninvasive tools for the screening of patients with retinal ischemia.
Volume
38
Issue
6
First Page
858
Last Page
863
ISSN
0028-3878
Published In/Presented At
Chawluk, J. B., Kushner, M. J., Bank, W. J., Silver, F. L., Jamieson, D. G., Bosley, T. M., Conway, D. J., Cohen, D., & Savino, P. J. (1988). Atherosclerotic carotid artery disease in patients with retinal ischemic syndromes. Neurology, 38(6), 858–863. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.38.6.858
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
3285240
Department(s)
Department of Medicine
Document Type
Article