Diffuse disseminated atheroembolism. Three cases with neuro-ophthalmic manifestation.

Neuro-ophthalmic manifestations led to the diagnosis of diffuse disseminated atheroembolism (DDA) in three men whose systemic symptoms had remained unexplained for years. The cholesterol emboli that cause DDA originate from friable plaques in the aorta and great vessels. Ophthalmologists should be alert to the diagnosis of DDA in patients with elevated ESRs, stroke, transient amaurosis, or cholesterol emboli in the fundi. Early diagnosis is important because arteriography, endarterectomy, and anticoagulation seem to increase the risk of serious, even fatal, embolization in these patients.