Retinal Occulsions
A retinal occlusion is a blockage in the blood vessel of your eye that can result in sight loss. There are two types of retinal blood vessels, arteries and veins. Either of these can become blocked and each of them can affect the eye in different ways.
There are two types of retinal occulsions.
- Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO)
- RRetinal Artery Occlusion (RAO)
Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO)
Retinal vein occlusion is a blockage of the small veins that carry blood away from the retina.
There are two types of RVO:
- Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is the blockage of the main retinal vein.
- Branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) is the blockage of one of the smaller branch veins.
Retinal Artery Occlusion (RAO)
A retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is a blockage in one or more of the arteries of your retina. The blockage is caused by a clot or occlusion in an artery, or a build-up of cholesterol in an artery. This is similar to a stroke.
There are two types of RAOs:
- Branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) blocks the small arteries in your retina.
- Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) is a blockage in the central artery in your retina. This is a form of a stroke in the eye and must be evaluated and treated immediately, just like a stroke.
Symptoms - Retinal Artery Occlusion
If you have an artery occlusion, you may lose your sight with little or no warning. It’s an emergency condition if there is a sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes and you would need to be going into local ER.
Some people may experience warning symptoms of brief periods of sight loss every now and again, before they have permanent loss of vision. If you experience this, you should have your eyes examined as soon as possible. Not every temporary loss of vision is due to artery occlusion, but these symptoms need investigating to work out the reason.
Your retinal arteries deliver blood which is rich in oxygen to the cells of your retina. If retinal arteries become blocked, then blood and the essential oxygen cannot reach the retinal cells. Without a constant supply of fresh blood and oxygen, the cells of the retina are quickly damaged and this means that the cells stop working and sight can be permanently lost. The amount of sight lost depends on where the blockage has occurred.
Symptoms - Retinal Vein occlusion
If you have an artery occlusion, you may lose your sight with little or no warning. It’s an emergency condition if there is a sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes and you would need to be going into local ER.
Some people may experience warning symptoms of brief periods of sight loss every now and again, before they have permanent loss of vision. If you experience this, you should have your eyes examined as soon as possible. Not every temporary loss of vision is due to artery occlusion, but these symptoms need investigating to work out the reason.
Your retinal arteries deliver blood which is rich in oxygen to the cells of your retina. If retinal arteries become blocked, then blood and the essential oxygen cannot reach the retinal cells. Without a constant supply of fresh blood and oxygen, the cells of the retina are quickly damaged and this means that the cells stop working and sight can be permanently lost. The amount of sight lost depends on where the blockage has occurred.
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