Retinal artery is the main blood vessel that carries blood to the retina.
If the retinal artery is blocked, there will be sudden blindness without pain.
This blockage can be caused by atherosclerosis, blood clots or fatty deposits (usually fat that comes from a broken bone marrow and into the bloodstream as emboli).
Other causes are inflammation of blood vessels in the head (temporal arteritis).
Dilation of retinal arteries can be done by breathing a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
In this way the blockage will move down, thereby reducing the area of the retina are affected.
Can be given an anticoagulant to prevent clot formation or to prevent the further spread of blood clots (which can lead to stroke).
