Arteries and veins carry blood to and from your heart, supplying it with oxygen and nutrients. When one of these arteries or veins becomes blocked (occluded), it can damage your body and cause serious health problems.
Occlusion symptoms vary depending on the type of blockage and your general health. For example, a blood clot blocking an artery in your leg can produce severe pain or swelling that may need immediate medical attention. On the other hand, a clot blocking your carotid artery in your neck can cause a stroke that can lead to a serious headache or a sudden loss of vision.
The most common symptom of an occlusion is a sudden loss of vision or blurring that gets worse over hours or days. This usually happens in just one eye, but sometimes it can happen in both eyes at once.
Other occlusion symptoms include floaters, dark spots or lines in your vision, and blurring that occurs suddenly or over time. These can be very disconcerting and need prompt care to prevent permanent damage to your eyesight.
A central retinal artery occlusion is a blockage in the main branch of the central retinal artery that supplies blood to the inner part of your eye (the macula). It causes engorged vessels, leakage and bleeding from one-half of your retina. The occlusion is usually the result of blood clots or buildup of cholesterol in your blood vessel. This disease is more common in people with high blood pressure, diabetes or other health conditions that increase your risk for clots.
If your ophthalmologist suspects you have a central retinal artery occlusion, they will do a test called fluorescein angiography. They will inject a yellow dye into a vein in your arm and take pictures of your retina as the dye moves through your blood vessels.
Your doctor also may use a hand-held Doppler ultrasound device to look for a blockage in the artery. This can help them see if the blockage is in your retina or the main branch of the artery that supplies blood to the retina.
In some cases, your doctor may do an X-ray contrast scan of the affected limb to show where the blockage is located. This is similar to a computed tomography angiogram, which is used to look at the blood vessels in your coronary arteries.
Some occlusions are caused by plaque or atherosclerosis, which buildup in the walls of arteries over time and can lead to a blockage. Your doctors at the Morrissey Family Heart & Vascular Institute can prescribe prescription medication to reduce the buildup and prevent further blockages.
Other occlusions are the result of a stroke, a sudden blockage in an artery that leads to loss of brain function or permanent blindness. A stroke can occur when a blood clot blocks a coronary artery or a thrombus (a mass of blood cells) forms in the arteries in your neck or other parts of your body and travels to your brain.
