Nutrition Health Chat: Tuesday, Dec. 8th, 5-6 PM Eastern. Learn how vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients affect your health. Free live Q&A. Join us!
Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Eye Care (Expert Forum)
Retinal infarcts
Our Ask A Doctor Ophthalmology Forum is where you can post your question and receive a personal answer from physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Retinal infarcts
by Christy__0__0, Dec 15, 1998 12:00AM
I am a 34 year old female who has bee diagnosed with 2 cotton wool spots near the macula in one eye. I have two tiny little permanent blind spots. I have seen a retinal specialist who thinks they may have been caused by emboli from the heart. He didn't see any emboli when I saw him twice. I am very healthy and on no medications. Is there anything else that may have caused these infarcts? Thank you!
---------
Cotton wool spots seen in the retina are caused by abnormal flow of products through the retinal nerve fibers in the eye. They are most commonly seen in conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. There is a long list of other conditions that can be associated with cotton wool spots of the retina. Some of these would include arthritis-like diseases, inflammatory conditions of the blood vessels, inflammation of the pancreas, HIV infection, previous external radiation near the eye, or following occlusion of retinal blood vessels. Of course, many times we cannot determine the cause, and there are other causes that are less common that I did not list.
You certainly need to have a thorough retinal evaluation and possibly a dye test to look at the blood flow through your retinal vessels. If these spots actually represent cotton wool spots a complete medical evaluation along with blood tests may be warranted.
We have retina specialists in our department who can evaluate you if you are interested. Please call 3139162020 for an appointment.
This information is provided for general medical education purposes only. Please consult your physician for diagnostic and treatment options pertaining to yor specific medical condition.
Sincerely yours,
HFHS M.D.-JL
*Keywords: cotton wool spot,etiology, retinal infarct
