Transient cortical blindness and successful recovery after coronary bypass surgery

Abstract

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.

Key Words:

• Cortical blindness
• left anterior descending artery
• penetrating cardiac trauma
• surgery
• transient.