Related Experiment Videos
Permanent cerebral blindness after cardiac catheterization
1Department of Neurology, Bowman-Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27107.
Insights
Permanent cerebral blindness after cardiac catheterization is rare. This case highlights a patient with lasting vision loss and memory issues following the procedure, likely due to cardiac emboli.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Cardiology
- Radiology
Background:
- Cerebral blindness is typically a temporary complication of cardiac catheterization.
- Neurologic deficits usually resolve within 1-3 days.
Abstract:
Cerebral blindness is usually a transient event that can complicate cardiac catheterization. The neurologic deficit clears in 1-3 days. We present a patient who developed permanent cerebral blindness after undergoing transfemoral cardiac catheterization. Bilateral hemorrhagic occipitotemporal infarcts were demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The patient also demonstrated denial of blindness and had transient memory disturbances due to occipitotemporal lobe infarct. The probable source of the emboli was cardiac.