Cases reported at the FAN club meeting, Bonn, November 1984. Case 1: A case of preretinal neovascularization after retinal artery occlusion.

A 63 year-old man presented with an occlusion of the inferior temporal artery in his right eye, followed ten days later by an obstruction of the central retinal artery. Internal carotid stenosis was diagnosed and the patient underwent carotid endarterectomy. The retinal arterial circulation was restored except in the previously occluded inferotemporal artery. Nine months after the occlusion, preretinal new vessels began to grow at the border of the ischaemic area. Possible mechanisms governing the proliferation of new vessels after retinal arterial occlusion are discussed.