Retinal Artery Occlusion: Cause and Treatment.
Retinal artery occlusion is a fairly uncommon condition that may cause severe vision loss. There are two main types of retinal artery occlusion: branch retinal artery occlusion and central retinal artery occlusion.
This photograph shows the acute phase of a central retinal artery occlusion. Most of the retina here is yellow-white and swollen because it has been cut off from its blood supply. The red circle in the center represents the "cherry red spot" in the center of the macula. This spot is red because the center of the retina is very thin, allowing you to see blood flow below the retina. The other finger-shaped red area is normal retinal tissue being supplied blood from a cilioretinal artery. If you look closely you will see that the artery supplying this area is not coming off the central stalk. It is called a cilioretinal artery because it is a branch off the central blood vessel, the ciliary artery, which typically supplies the outer layers of the eyeball. Approximately one in five people have such a secondary circulation to the retina. This patient has a central retinal artery occlusion, and this secondary circulation has saved a small piece of retina from the damage caused by the blockage.
There are no proven medical or surgical techniques for treating retinal artery occlusions. But their presence indicates an underlying systemic cause that must be diagnosed and treated. For instance, if the disorder is caused by a disease called giant cell temporal arteritis, an immediate intravenous steroid is required to lessen the chance of vision loss in the other healthy eye. The only local eye treatment that may be used in artery occlusions is laser or intravitreal anti-vascular endolthelial growth factor injection. This is done if abnormal blood vessels (neovascularization) develop and cause complications such as glaucoma.
