Carotid artery disease and ocular vascular disorders

The carotid artery supplies blood to the structures of the eye; therefore a variety of ocular vascular disturbances can occur secondary to abnormalities in the parent vessels. The ocular manifestations of chronic carotid artery abnormalities may often be subtle and overlooked or they may be acute, where the contribution of the carotid arteries in the aetiology may not be apparent on routine clinical evaluation. Ophthalmologists and neurologists working independently may not recognise the effects of carotid artery disturbances on the eye and missed diagnoses are not infrequent. In our experience of almost a decade in a tertiarycare referral hospital, we have not recorded any patient referred to us from a primary referring physician (either ophthlamologist or neurologist) as a case of ocular manifestation of a carotid artery disease. This brief review highlights the important clinical features, diagnostic modalities and therapeutic options in this group of disorders.