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Temporary blindness - can CT scan detect old ITA?

Background: I am a female, 43, fit, athletic, never smoked, healthy (no family history of strokes, diabetes, heart problems, MS). About 10 years ago I experienced a total temporary blindness in my right eye that lasted about 5 minutes. I got scared, but since it went away I did not do anything about it. During these past 10 years I had some more occurrences of the temporary blindness (always in the right eye). I mentioned about it to an optometrist. He did not find anything, suggested a possible migraine, however I never even experienced a real headache. I had a laser eye surgery done 3 years ago.
The very first time I experienced the temporary blindness after being overly stressed and hyper. After that, in most cases the temporary blindness came after a rapid pressure change, i.e. rapid bend-unbend (however not every rapid movement caused blindness).
A week ago I got blind in my right eye again, and it happened 3 times within 24 hours: first time after I rubbed my eye, 2 other times
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Avatar universal
First keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you, because I cannot examine you and that this forum is for educational purposes only.  The symptoms you desribe suggest a sudden loss of blood flow to the retina (receptor part of the eye) which is also called amaurosis fugax(mini-strokes of the eye).  There are other conditons that cause loss of vision in one eye that generally have different time course of action.  Migraine induced loss of vision generally comes on over 10 minutes and lasts for 20 minutes and is also a possibility for you.  Inflammation of the optic nerve or also called optic neuritis causes blindness in one eye over 1-4 days and resolves over 4-6 weeks. Blindness in one eye that progresses over 3 months may be due to a tumor such as an optic glioma.  Given your history of sudden onset vision loss and rapid resolution, amaurosis fugax (or mini-strokes of the eye) is a real possibility.  Further, given the fact that this often occurs with bending over suggests that tis may be due to a small hole in your heart that allows small particles to cross over and go to your eye/brain.  This is called a PFO (patent foramen ovalae) and is present in 20-30% of all people.  A CT scan is able to see large strokes and old stroke in some areas, but a MRI scan of your brain is a much better test and should include a MRA (this looks at your brain blood vessels ie:carotids and circle of willis) To examine for the PFO ask your neurologist to order an echocardiogram with saline constrast.  People with your symptoms such be on asprin 325mg daily, and have a fasting lipid profile completed.  Migraine is still possible even without a headache, although it seems less likely given the symptoms you describe. To evaluate for this talk to your neurologist about statring a migraine preventative medicine (beta-blocker(nadolol), elavil, topamax, or verapamil are some examples) that you would take once daily and in 2-3 weeks the visual loss episodes should reduce/stop if they are due to migraine.  I hope this has been helpfull.
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Avatar universal
Aub
Everytime I try to post this forum says try later.  What's the secret?
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Avatar universal
Try posting between 8a-11am EST.  The forum was closed for about a week due to a new MD moderator coming on board.  Some people try to post for weeks before getting on.  Just keep trying.  Those hours seem to be when most people get on.

(a hint--have your question ready in a Word document, then if you suddenly find yourself able to get a question in, you can copy and paste it.  There is a limit to the length, so be concise as possible.  There are only 2 new questions allowed a day.  Think of all the people who are trying to get in, and you can understand why it's hard.)  

also, if you or anyone else is able to get in, and then for whatever reason  you don't ask your question, that one question slot is lost for the day.  So be sure you are ready to post your question when you get in.
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