Amaurosis Fugax

Amaurosis fugax, or transient monocular blindness, is caused by an abrupt, temporary reduction in blood flow to one eye. The loss of vision is sudden, usually lasting seconds or minutes. Blindness is complete, although it is sometimes limited to a sector of the field of vision. Often the blindness develops as if a shade were drawn upward or downward over the eye, rarely sideward. Attacks can be single or multiple. Some patients have hundreds or even thousands of episodes. Pain, scintillations, and diplopia are typically absent. In most patients the prognosis for recovery of the retina is good; in a . . .