Eyes May Oあer Window into Cardiovascular1 Disease

文/卡里·尼仑贝格 译/黄珊珊 审订/宁一中

1 cardiovascular心血管的。

Vision problems may sometimes be the only symptom a person has of a serious cardiovascular condition, a new case report suggests.

[2] In the case, a 77-year-old man in Greece experienced three short episodes of blurred vision in his right eye. The five-minute episodes stretched over an hour in total, and after each episode, his vision returned to normal.

[3] Concerned about this sudden problem, the man went to the eye clinic at his local hospital.

[4] An eye exam showed that the man’s vision was good, and the pressure within his eyes was normal. But when the man’s pupils22 pupil瞳孔。were dilated and a doctor looked more closely into his eyes, the culprit was revealed: A blood clot was blocking the blood supply in a branch of his retinal3retinal视网膜的。artery44 artery动脉。, according

一项新的病例报告显示，如果一个人患上了严重的心血管疾病，视力问题可能是其唯一的症状。

[2]在这个病例中，一位77岁的希腊老人右眼经历了三次短暂的视觉模糊。每次症状持续时间长达五分钟，三次症状的出现总共持续了一个小时。在每一次短暂的视觉模糊之后，他的视力又恢复正常。

[3]由于担心这个突然出现的健康问题，他去看了当地医院的眼科。

[4]视力检查显示，这位老人的视力很好。眼压也属正常。但是当老人的瞳孔放大，一位医生仔细检查了他的眼睛后，发现了导致其视力模糊的罪魁祸首：一个血栓阻挡了视网膜动脉一个分支的血液供to the report of the man’s case.

[5] Such clots are typically made out of cholesterol5cholesterol胆固醇。and clumps of platelets66 platelet血小板。(blood cell fragments), and in the case,the clot came from the man’s carotid7carotid颈动脉的。artery, the main artery that brings blood to the head and neck, said Dr. Ilias Georgalas, an assistant professor of ophthalmology88 ophthalmology眼科。at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in Greece.

[6] But the tiny clot was a serious health problem—people with a blockage in the eye’s central or branch retinal artery have a high risk of a serious or fatal stroke9stroke中风。, said Georgalas, who treated the man and was one of the coauthors of the case report published on-Nov. 25 in theNew England Journal of Medicine.应，病例报告中这样写道。

[5]希腊雅典大学眼科助理教授伊利亚斯·耶奥加拉斯医生说，通常情况下，这种血栓是由胆固醇和许多血小板（血液细胞碎片）构成。在这个病例中，血栓来源于老人的颈动脉，而颈动脉是将血液输送到头部和颈部的主要动脉。

[6]耶奥加拉斯医生写道，小小的血栓却造成了严重的健康问题——如果视网膜中央动脉或其分支阻塞，人们患上严重甚至是致命中风的机率非常高。耶奥加拉斯医生治疗了这位老人，并且是该病例报告的共同作者之一。该报告已经于11月25日被在线发表在《新英格兰医学期刊》上。

Vision problems and heart disease

[7] The case highlights the fact that visual symptoms can be a warning sign of a cardiovascular problem, Georgalas told Live Science.

[8] The 77-year-old man had no history of eye problems, but he had high cholesterol levels and had been taking statin drugs10statin drugs他汀类药物。for the past five years to reduce his cholesterol.

[9] The man was diagnosed with “amaurosis fugax”11一时性黑蒙，表现为头晕，视物模糊，突然出现的双目失明，视野缺失经常在5—19分完全恢复。, a condition in which a

视力问题和心脏病

[7]耶奥加拉斯医生告诉美国生命科学网，这个病例突出反映了这样一个事实，即视力问题可能是心血管疾病的一个警告信号。

[8]这位77岁的老人没有眼部疾病史，但是他的胆固醇很高，并且在过去的五年内一直在服用他汀类药物来降低胆person loses vision in one eye, usually for a few minutes at a time, because of an interruption of blood flow in an artery.

[10] The clot in the man’s eye was a fragment of a plaque12plaque血小板，斑块。that had formed in the man’s right carotid artery, and then traveled through his bloodstream and landed in one of the smaller branches of the retinal artery in his eye, Georgalas said. This temporarily closed off the blood supply to his right eye, which explains the man’s blurred vision, he said.

[11] Examining the eyes is an easy way for doctors to have a look at the vascular13vascular血管的。system, the network of blood vessels in the body, which includes the arteries and veins, Georgalas said. It’s very rare for a vascular problem in other parts of the body to not be seen in the blood vessels within the eyes, he said.

[12] For this Greek man, his blurred vision led doctors to detect that the blood flow through his right internal carotid artery was 80 percent blocked because of atherosclerosis14atherosclerosis动脉粥样硬化。, or hardening of the arteries.

[13] He needed a carotid endarterectomy15endarterectomy动脉内膜切除术。, a surgical procedure that removes plaque buildup in a narrowed artery, and can prevent a stroke. Twelve months later, the man’s vision was固醇。

[9]这位老人被诊断出患有“一时性黑蒙”，即一只眼睛因为视网膜动脉内供血中断而失去视力，一次症状通常持续几分钟。

[10]耶奥加拉斯说，老人眼中的血栓是一个血小板的碎片，这个碎片形成于老人右侧颈动脉，之后通过血液流动到视网膜动脉一个较小的分支中。这就暂时阻碍了右眼的供血，导致老人视力模糊。

[11]耶奥加拉斯说，对于医生来说，检查眼睛是一种简单的检查血管系统的方法。血管系统是人体内的血管网络，它包括动脉和静脉。人体其他部位的血管疾病绝大多数都会在眼部血管中表现出来。

[12]鉴于这位希腊老人视线模糊的症状，医生发现，因为动脉粥样硬化或动脉硬化，老人右侧颈内动脉80%的血液已经被阻塞。

[13]我们了解到老人需要做一个颈动脉内膜切除手术，这种外科手术会在狭窄的动脉内去除聚集的斑块，并且预防中风。根据病例报告，一年之后，这位老人的视力恢复正常，normal and he had no eye problems, according to the case.

[14] For a relatively high number of people with severe carotid artery blockage, temporary visual loss may be the only symptom, Georgalas said.

[15] Any temporary, painless loss of vision should not be ignored, he said. The eyes can provide a good indication of a person’s health throughout the body, and visiting an ophthalmologist16ophthalmologist眼科医生。can often be the fi rst step in diagnosing more severe health problems, Georgalas noted. ■并且没有眼部疾病。

[14]耶奥加拉斯说，相当多严重颈动脉阻塞患者的唯一症状就是短暂性失明。

[15]耶奥加拉斯说，我们不应该忽视任何无痛的短暂性失明症状。眼睛可以很好地显示一个人的身体健康状况。因此，看眼科医生往往是诊断更严重健康问题的第一步。 □