Abstract
A 45-year-old Caucasian woman presented with sudden onset right-sided hemiparesis, aphasia and a painful left eye. Examination revealed a bone-white fundus with no perfusion of either the retinal or choroidal circulations. Magnetic resonance imaging showed increased signal density of the left optic nerve sheath, orbital fat and extraocular muscles consistent with infarction of the ophthalmic artery distribution. An echocardiogram disclosed a mobile, multilobulated mass attached to the septal wall of the left atrium. Pathological examination of the resected tumour confirmed the diagnosis of endocardial myxoma. A colour Doppler study performed 1 month after surgery demonstrated absence of flow in the left ophthalmic artery. At 2 months, the left eye had no light perception and an intraocular pressure of 2 mmHg. This clinicopathological report describes the rare presentation of an acute ophthalmic artery obstruction secondary to atrial myxoma.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Henkind P . Symposium: Retinal vascular disease. Introduction and phenomenology. Trans Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol 1977;83:OP367–72.
Brown GC, Magargal LE, Sergott R . Acute obstruction of the retinal and choroidal circulations. Ophthalmology 1986;93:1373–82.
Manschot WA . Embolism of the central retinal artery originating from an endocardial myxoma. Am J Ophthalmol 1959;48:381–5.
Anderson JD, Lubow M . Atrial myxoma as a source of retinal embolisation. Am J Ophthalmol 1973;76:769–72.
Cogan DG, Wray SH . Vascular occlusions in the eye from cardiac myxomas. Am J Ophthalmol 1975;80:396–403.
Jampol LM, Wong AS, Albert DM . Atrial myxoma and central retinal artery occlusion. Am J Ophthalmol 1973;75:242–9.
Yasuma F, Tsuzuki M, Yasuma T . Retinal embolism from left atrial myxoma. Jpn Heart J 1989;30:527–32.
Brown GC, Margaral LE . Central retinal artery obstruction and visual acuity. Ophthalmology 1982;89:14–9.
Pederson JE . Hypotony. In: Tasman W, Jaeger EA, editors. Duane's clinical ophthalmology, vol 3. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott, 1984:58:1–8.
Lieb WE, Cohen SM, Merton DA, et al. Colour Doppler imaging of the eye and orbit: technique and normal vascular anatomy. Arch Ophthalmol 1991;109:527–31.
Bullock JD, Falter RT, Downing JE, Snyder HE . Ischaemic ophthalmia secondary to an ophthalmic artery occlusion. Am J Ophthalmol 1972;74:486–93.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rafuse, P., Nicolle, D., Hutnik, C. et al. Left atrial myxoma causing ophthalmic artery occlusion. Eye 11, 25–29 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1997.5
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1997.5
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Retinal artery occlusion as the manifestation of left atrial myxoma: a case report
BMC Ophthalmology (2014)