Venous Stasis Retinopathy Unlikely Results from Internal Carotid Artery Obstruction Alone

Abstract

In a prospective hospital-based registry of all first-ever supratentorial brain infarcts, 149 patients of the first 169 had noninvasive tests. Twenty-three of 38 with at least unilateral carotid obstruction had standard ophthalmological assessment aimed at detecting venous stasis retinopathy (VSR), which was found in 2: 9%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0–20. In a consecutive series of 22 patients with VSR, who all had noninvasive carotid tests, 15 had at least homolateral carotid obstruction (68%; 95% CI: 50–86). Our findings argue against a simple cause-and-effect relationship between significant homolateral carotid obstructive disease and VSR and dispute the rationale for surgical procedures aimed at ameliorating symptoms in this ocular affliction.