Clinical Reasoning: Acute Monocular Vision Loss in a Patient With Ipsilateral Extracranial Chronic Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion

We report the case of a middle-aged man who presented with acute painless monocular vision loss. His medical history was remarkable for chronic total occlusion of the ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) and a recent carotid endarterectomy (CEA) on the contralateral ICA. In a stepwise multidisciplinary approach assessment, we review the differential diagnosis of acute vision loss and investigate how the patient's intracranial and extracranial hemodynamic reorganization after chronic ICA occlusion may affect the clinical reasoning. Early complications of CEA and the differential diagnosis of new-onset anisocoria are also discussed.

Automated summary

We present a case of a middle-aged man with acute painless monocular vision loss, who had a history of chronic total occlusion of one internal carotid artery and recent carotid endarterectomy on the other side. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we discuss the differential diagnosis of acute vision loss and investigate the impact of intracranial and extracranial hemodynamic reorganization after chronic carotid artery occlusion on clinical reasoning. We also explore early complications of carotid endarterectomy and the differential diagnosis of new-onset anisocoria.