Occlusion of the posterior ciliary artery. V. Protective influence of simultaneous vortex vein occlusion
S. S. Hayreh and A. Chopdar
In 28 eyes of rhesus monkeys, occlusion of all the posterior ciliary
arteries (PCAs) was either performed alone (in seven eyes) or accompanied
simultaneously by occlusion of one vortex vein (VV) (in 11 eyes) or two VVs
(in ten eyes). In addition, in four eyes lateral PCA occlusion was combined
with occlusion of two VVs. All the eyes were investigated for acute
ischemic lesions in the fundus, ie, outer retinal infarcts and anterior
ischemic optic neuropathy (AION). The findings indicate that occlusion of
one or two VVs exercised a distinct protective influence against the acute
ischemic lesions. The study also demonstrated that notable interstudy and
intrastudy variations in the incidence and extent of retinal infarcts and
AION among the various previously reported experimental PCA occlusion
studies were caused by unintentional and unnoticed cutting of some of the
VVs in the orbit.
