Vision Problems

[Sheila]

Hello Everyone

I am new to this group. I have unruptured brain aneurysm - upper right cranial. It is considered a giant aneurysm by my doctor. It was treated by 2 separate coiling procedures - once Feb 06 and again in July 06. Had angiogram in Dec 06 and it was contained. My procedures were considered successful and I am lucky to be alive.
My question is that I have experienced vision loss. I have not come accross any current messages on the board about this. As a result of the coiling procedure, I have lossed peripheral vision in left side of both eyes. An MRI was done in May 06 and it showed that I had stroke damage due to the 1st coiling procedure. My peripheral vision has slowly gotten better per various eye tests. But I still am experiencing visual loss and clarity even almost 1 year later. Has anyone experienced this situation with large brain annies. I appreciate any help or advice.
Thank You - this is a wonderful site.
Sheila

[FireflyR7]

:) My name is Tricia, Welcome to the group. I am sorry to hear about your Aneurysm! Welcome to the survivors club!! I too had a ruptured Aneurysm 7/05. I had trouble getting diagnosed, went to the ER 3 times and to 3 diff. doctors before getting a diagnosis. I didn't have surgeries until Sept. & Oct 05. Mine is next to my left optical artery. I am still experiancing extreme blurred vision & light sensitivity! My peripheral vision is still off and I see tracers...
Have you been to an eye specialist? Are you losing total vision or just blurred?? Is it all the time, or just when your tired or your eyes are?? I went to a specialist and spent a fortune having glasses made that only made it worst? It is not really my eyes, it is more my brain?? Some days they are better that others. I threw a clot durring the stenting, so I am not sure about my healing process? Plus my brain is still absorbing the blood, since I wasn't treated right after it happened. I have several deficits, headaches... I am a year and a few months post surgeries, my NS says usually the 2 year mark is the turning point? I think there might be some older post about vision, you might want to scan through some of the old threads?? I don't know if there are any eye exersizes you can do to help?? I need to go back to the eye Dr. too, or get some "cheaters" to wear! LOL! I am sure you will get more answers. Take care hun! Tricia

[snapdragon]

Hi Sheila ,I believe a lot of us have vision problems even if we did not have a ruptcure . It is 7 yrs for me since my clipping of unruptured 8mm annie ,so not a large annie :) more mid sized . I believe it has more to do with where your annie is (how close to the optic nerve ) I continue to have some problems that come & go ,but have mild right sided limit of vision that has gotten better than it was . I believe it is now permanet as it has not changed over the last few years .but it kept geting better for 3-4 years after surgery ,it takes a long time . Were you ever told how close to the optic nerve your annie was ? the stroke I am sure would add to problem if it were in that area . I hope it helps to know you are not alone with the vision problems and am sure there are others who will tell you they have had them too with out ruptchure . Glad you found us , welcome ,and ask any questions you have as we have heard them all and know that the Dr.s don't always want to answer them as things are different for everyone and they deal in facts . Here we tell our own experances and you will see that they range from one end of the scale to the other ,so there is a lot of first hand knowledge ,and understanding here . (((Hugs))) Snap

[HereinNY]

Hi Sheila
I had 3 ruptured annies in 2004 - today is actually my annie-versary! I too had lost my left peripheral vision in both eyes. I know that one of the annies was a giant 2 cm near the optic horn. I don't know the size of the other 2, but they were all side by side. I was coiled and I am actually due for an angiogram. Last Spring a little vision in the lower left came back and I started to drive again in the daytime and locally. But what a relief to have a little more freedom. I definitely think that ruptured or unruptured annies will affect your vision depending on how close to the optic nerve they are. In my case they say it's permanent bc of the amount of bleeding there was in the area that killed those brain cells I guess. Anyway good luck to you and take care.
:) Tracy

[Kitty]

I had vision problems after a rupture, double vision that time. Then after a second surgery for clipping on the other side, I had a sudden degradation of my vision. Both times my NS was concerned that I might lose vision completely in the eye, due to the location of the annies.
The double vision went away gradually after a couple of months. The degradation of vision has been improved by glasses :( But I felt fortunate not to lose completely the vision in either eye.
Anyway, I think vision problems are common with annies, depending on where the annie is.

Kitty

[bluetoo]

Hi Sheila,
I'm bluetoo aka Vicki, had 3 clips on 12mm annie on right optic nerve, in feb, 2004. told me I'd lose my vision in right eye,,got bad for awhile, kept going to specialist in Boston...last yrs visit, vision is coming back and they don't know why, but I'm not complaining...things get blurry when I'm tired and sometimes when I'm not, not sure why. Just take it day by day..just grateful to still be here...I've learned to deal with the vision, although some days it gets me more than others..can read my books now though and am grateful for that. hope your vision comes back, you never can tell and neither can the drs. as in my case....best of luck to you, hugs, Vicki aka bluetoo :o)

[WTWEED]

Hi Sheila, This is my first time on this sight. I had a ruptured brain aneurysm 6 months ago. At first i could only see shadows but in 3 months it did improve a little now i can see a small spot clear out of one eye and a small spot that tahes time to come in out off the other. They said the bad eye was shutting down so what i have done is where a patch on the better eye to make it work and i think it has improved but very little. What a life changing event,never thought i would miss work this much. Hope your doing okay myadvice would be keep a positive attitude and dont give up.
I am getting glasses with prisms to try to expand my visual field friday.
Hope to hear from you Les

[ChrisC]

Sheila, I also had vision problems - I agree that we all share a few of those problems, whether ruptured or not, and also depending on where the annie is. Most are in the Circle of Willis, and that's very close to the ophthalmic artery area. Mine was situated directly on that artery which is why the clipping attempt failed. Had he clipped it, my vision would have been gone in my left eye. I've had some issues with that eye too - some tests over the last 4 years are better, and some tests are slooooowly getting worse - think it's a combination of age and surgery! As long as glasses make it better, I'm ok with it.

Have you seen a "super specialist" or neuro-ophthalmologist?? Sometimes they can shed some light on what's happening and what you can expect.

My best to you!

[Travelingdueo]

Hi I'm Becky and my husband Ray had a bleed just over a year ago and his was clipped.... after he came out of rehab in March 06 was sent to see a eye doctor and then sent to a Retina & Macula specialists... they found that he had Tersons syndrome which is a common thing to happen but was something that you don't see too often ... he had to have a operation where they drained the old blood that didn't get absorbed and added new fluid... he could not see his hands in front of him before the operation and now he can see he did have to get glasses for the left eye ( that was the eye. ) but he can see his hands now!! He had this done in July 06 about 5 1/2 months since the bleed.

[Sprinster]

My Mom suffered a ruptured anuerysm (SAH) in April of 2006. She was in ICU for 5 weeks and there was a window of time that she was prone to artery spasm (vasospasm) which closes off the blood flow to the brain and cause further damage. A lot of patients will experience this vasospasm and it happens between the 7th day and up to 3 weeks after the rupture. Mom had severe vasospasm throughout a 2 week period and her Drs increased her blood pressure to extremely high levels to help keep the vessels open. . After another 15 weeks or so of hospitals and ups and downs, Mom got to come home. She was blind in one eye and had very cloudy vision out of the other. She could still make out colors and some shapes, but that was about all. We took her to an eye specialist who determined she had Terson's Syndrome. It is when the blood hemorrhages into the eyeballs either from the initial rupture or the elevated blood pressure for a sustained amount of time (or both) and gets into the eyeballs and turns into a paste-like substance that cannot be absorbed and needs to be removed. The procedure is a vitrectomy. Mom had cataract surgeries on both eyes and then the vitrectomy surgeries and her vision is near 20/20. She doesn't use the glasses she required before. It is such a blessing and may be worth checking into. Hope this helps some.

[Sheila]

Hello Everyone

Thank you all for replying to my post with your individual stories. Thanks Tricia,Snap, Tracy, Kitty, Vicki, Les, Chris,Becky, and Sprinster - all your replies were very helpful and your stories are very inspiring. Thanks again.

Sorry I took so long to reply. My NS decided to do another MRI/MRA. Had it done last Thur but still awaiting on the results. Will share once I hear back.

To answer all your questions. I have seen several eye specialists - my own optometrist, ophthalmologist and poor vision specialist (both at Jules Stein Eye Institute). They all say the same thing. My brain annie is the cause of my problems. My NS says and all the eye doctors agree that the annie is not pressing on my optic nerve. My NS says that a blood vessel was blocked as a result of the coiling procedure. He can't explain why my vision continues to get worse but I believe it is due to the size of my annie. I do not have double vision just blurred and losing distance and clarity. I was just surprised to continue losing clarity at this stage. So, that why I am hear to ask the experts and to learn from all your experiencies. Quite an amazing group. I will look into vasospasm and Tersons syndrome. But - I do not think that I have that because my eyes have been checked any damage. It is still worth persuing.

Thanks again for all your kind replys. Take care.

Sheila

[FireflyR7]

:cool: My eyes are so blurry today, I can barely read the post?? Good to hear back from you! Hope you find out something about your scans soon!! My rupture is next to my left optical artery too. I also threw a clot during the 1st surgery, do you have a stent or just coils? Hopefully our vision will improve over time!! Let us know what you find out!!! ;) Take care. Love Tricia

[Leslie Joe]

Hi Sheila,

I to had vision problems, still do but they are getting much better. I had a rupture of a large annie Dec 05. I went from being near sighted to far sighted, and had several issues in the first few months. Visual hallucinations, double vision, loss of vision etc...

Now when I am having a "good day" my vision is almost 20/20 (considering I have worn glasses for more than 30 years this is good!) ... but... and there always seems to be one of those... when I get to excited, good or bad, my vision is effected.

I strongly suggest seeing a good neuro-ophthalmologist, I know that mine has been extrememly helpful!

Good Luck, and know that you are not alone!

LJ

[Sheila]

Hi Everyone

Thank you all for your replies - Tricia, Snap, Tracy, Kitty, Vicki, Les, Chris, Becky, and Sprinster. I am encouraged by reading your stories and info received. Sorry that I am taking so long to reply. My doctor ordered another MRI/MRA to see if I was having mini-strokes. Had this done last Thur - awaiting results.

To answer your questions, I have many eye tests in 2006 and seen 3 different doctors. My optometrist, ophthalmologist and poor vision special (both at Jules Stein Institure) all said the same thing. My vision loss is due to my brain annie. They all said that the brain annie is not pressing on my optic nerve including my NS. My neurologist says that the coiling procedure blocked a blood vessel which caused the damage. He can not explain why I continue to have vision loss (blurry and lost of distance) after 1 yr from my 1st procedure and 6 months after my second precedure. He can not predict my outcome. I just afraid that I may go blind. But - my glasses are still holding up for the most part. Spent a fortune changing prescriptions for reading and distance.
I will look into vasospasm & Tersons syndrome with my doctor. I have had numerous tests on my eyes - looking inside the eyeballs and nothing has shown up.
So, this is why I came to the experts here on this website. I am learning alot and appreciate all your responses. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions. Will keep you posted. Your stories are very inspiring and there is a wealth of info here.

Thanks again

Sheila

[Kath]

I had mine coiled on Dec1- it had not ruptured and it was about 6mm. a small one. I do get blurry eyed and I get floaty things in front of my left eye. That's where it was. This site is awesome. People have the same problems as I do. Doesn't make you feel so alone.

[Leslie Joe]

Sheila, did you see a neuro-ophthalmologist? My neurosurgeon sent me to a good one, and I understand that they have a "different" view of things...

I wish you well

and yes Kath I agree completely with you, this site is awesome!!!

LJ