76 year old Mom's Eye Hemorrhage

Last night my Mom had a eye hemorrhage. She is on 5mg of Coumadin. She went to Kaiser this morning and they said it was due to the Coumadin. No further action was taken. If that is an appropriate plan of action no problem! I am still worried though and just wanted to double check for my own peace of mind.  Is this normal? Should I do anything else for my Mom?  
Her health is fantastic. She recently was diagnosed with atieral fillibration thus the coumadin. She has no blockages, the heart is great. They said artieral fillibration can occur to older folks. Thank you in advance for any  thoughts you might have.

Sincerely, Anne aka worried daughter and Mom's best freind!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Hello Anne   First of all coumadin is very important for a patient on Atrial Fibrillation (AF) to reduce the risk of a massive or fatal ischemic stroke.

The thinness of the blood is determined by a test called INR. Most physicians try and keep the INR between 2 and 3. If your mother has not had her INR checked in the last week, generally it is recommended to have it checked ASAP. Recently I saw a man with a large external hemorrhage on the eye. He insisted that his "blood is the right thickness", I insisted he see his physician and have it repeated it was over 8 and he was at high risk for hemorrhagic stroke and other bleeding problems.

If the "eye hemorrhage" you are referring to is a bloody spot on the white of the eye and there is no pain or loss of vision then that is called a subconjunctival hemorrhage and is generally not considered anything serious. It often occurs without cause or due to minor trauma as simple as coughting. It does not require and treatment and goes away like a bruise.

On the other hand if the bleeding was in the eye itself and vision is down then she needs to see an opthalmologist ASAP.

Try and determine if she had a subconjunctival hemorrhage and try and get her to the lab for an INR.

JCH III MC