Transient cortical blindness and successful recovery after coronary bypass surgery.
Left ventricular injury has a bad prognosis, especially when a coronary artery is involved. After perforation of the left cardiac ventricle by a knife, a 19-year-old male patient presented with: (i) complete bilateral visual loss; (ii) left anterior descending (LAD) artery injury; (iii) severe systemic hypotension. Under emergency conditions and cardiopulmonary bypass, the LAD artery was revascularized by a saphenous vein graft. Bilateral blindness recovered within several days. Cerebral hypoxia as a result of severe systemic hypotension was the most likely underlying mechanism.
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Erciyes University School of Medicine Kayseri, Turkey.
Kutay
K
Tasdemir
Cem
C
Evereklioglu
Mehmet G
MG
Kaya
D000328:Adult; D019575:Blindness, Cortical / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*