[Importance of the orbital collateral circulation for the origin of ischemic ophthalmopathy in stenotic diseases of the internal carotid artery].
Ischemic ophthalmopathy is the leading ocular symptom of occlusive processes of the internal carotid artery. It can be preceded by embolic symptoms as amaurosis fugax or occlusion of a branch or the main stem of the central retinal artery. Both, ophthalmologists and neurologists, should be familiar with these disturbances as they can involve important diagnostic and therapeutic consequences. Five out of six patients with an angiographically demonstrated extracranial occlusion of one internal carotid artery and a retrograde collateral circulation to the intracranial space via the external carotid and the ophthalmic arteries showed an ischemic ophthalmopathy of the ipsilateral eye. This high coincidence supports the notion that an ischemic ophthalmopathy may not be the result of the occlusive process of the internal carotid artery per se, but may be caused by ocular "steal mechanisms" due to the retrograde orbital collateral circulation.
D000328:Adult; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D001766:Blindness / Q000209:etiology; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D003097:Collateral Circulation; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009915:Orbit / Q000098:blood supply*
Die Bedeutung des orbitalen Kollateralkreislaufs für die Entstehung ischämischer Ophthalmopathien bei stenosierenden Erkrankungen der Arteria carotis interna.