[Prolonged reversible cortical blindness over 5 days after cardiac catheterization]

We present a case of a 49-year-old man with angina pectoris. He developed transient cortical blindness (TCB) with focal neurological symptoms following coronary angiography. Two cranial magnet resonance studies within 3 days showed no morphological changes. Clinically the patient developed complex focal epilepsy, which was symptomatically treated. Under intensive monitoring, including hypertension control, the patient improved after 5 days of blindness with restoration of his vision on day 6. The exact mechanism of TCB is still speculative, but could be caused in this case by a toxic effect of contrast dye that was administered. There is no definitive evidence to suggest that a certain treatment regime improves the natural history of the disease. However, control of risk factors and prevention of selective cerebral angiography may increase preventive strategies for this highly devastating complication.