Transient Visual Loss Triggered by Scuba Diving in a Patient with a Petrous Epidermoid and Combined Thrombotic Risk Factors

Publisher: Karger

E-ISSN: 1424-8840|36|6|311-314

ISSN: 1424-8832

Source: Pathophysiology of Haemostasis and Thrombosis, Vol.36, Iss.6, 2010-03, pp. : 311-314

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Abstract

A 25-year-old woman who developed transient neurological abnormalities after scuba diving is reported. The subsequent day she experienced transient left-side monocular blindness. Arterial ocular occlusion in apparently healthy young women is unusual, and a search for the cause of this devastating vascular event is mandatory. Occlusion of the left branch retinal artery, total occlusion of the left internal carotid artery, and a petrous apex epidermoid were found, together with a shortened prothrombin time (INR: 0.73), a slightly elevated serum cholesterol level (6.1 mmol/l) and combined thrombophilia (elevated FVIIIC plus type 2 sticky platelet syndrome). This case underlines the complex mechanism of thromboembolic diseases, and the importance of the acquired trigger (in the present case scuba diving) in addition to the long-term anatomical and biochemical risk factors.