[Transient cortical blindness--a complication after coronary angiography--case report]

Pol Merkur Lekarski. 2008 May;24(143):430-2.
[Article in Polish]

Abstract

Transient cortical blindness is a very rare complication of cardiovascular and cerebral angiography procedures. We present a case of 63-years-old woman, who developed cortical blindness after coronary angiography. Computed tomography (CT) done immediately after blindness appearance showed bilateral hyperintensive areas (probably due to a leakage of contrast medium) in the occipital and parietal cerebral lobes. All visual symptoms disappeared during 48 hours and CT scan repeated after sight recovery did not show any focal lesions in the brain. A breakdown of the blood-brain barrier with direct contrast neurotoxicity seems to be the causal factor of neurological changes observed in our patient after coronary angiography.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Blindness, Cortical / diagnostic imaging
  • Blindness, Cortical / etiology*
  • Coronary Angiography / adverse effects*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Occipital Lobe / diagnostic imaging
  • Parietal Lobe / diagnostic imaging
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed