Possible increased tendency to thrombosis after cerebral angiography.

Two patients are presented in whom cerebral angiography was complicated by bioccipital infarcts resulting in cortical blindness with persisting severe restriction of the visual field (case 1) and persisting cortical blindness (case 2). One patient (case 1) demonstrated a compensated, protracted disseminated intravascular coagulation (Table 1), which disappeared after treatment with phenprocoumon (Marcoumar). The other patient (case 2) demonstrated increasee spontaneous platelet aggregability (Table 2), which was treated sucessfully with acetylsalicylic acid (Magnyl) and dipyridamole (Persantine). We presume that the coagulation disturbances demonstrated after the angiography may be pathogenetic to the complications. We propose that patients with transient cerebral ischemia and apoplexy who are undergoing cerebral angiography should be studied with regard to coagulation before and after the cerebral angiography so that coagulation disturbances demonstrated may be treated before, or corrected after the angiography.