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Have Vision Episodes And Loss Of Vision In One Corner Of Eye. Had A Concussion. Does High Doses Of Radiation Cause Long Term Effects?
Question: Occasionally I have vision episodes. The one I am having now is in my left eye, I'm trying to read email and notice my left eye isn't seeing correctly, ei, there is an awareness there and vision is disrupted. For example, the line I am reading is dissected onto 2 levels in places. It comes and goes. A month ago I was sitting in my recliner watching TV when my vision suddenly got strange as if my eyes had crossed. I called my wife over to check and she noticed that they were indeed slightly crossed. There were several other episodes where I experienced a sort of blackening or loss of vision in a corner of one eye, also with an awareness in the same area of the eye. I subsequently had an eye exam and the doctor said my eyes look good. I was in a car wreck several years ago, had some injuries including a concussion and was exposed to 2 CT scans of my brain within 2 days. Can this have anything to do with these vision episodes? I was in no condition to know what was happening, but had I been aware I would not have let the doctors do the second scan as I have read that they have high doses of radiation and can cause long term problems. I am a 63 yr old male in good health, I think!
Brief Answer:
My reply is below
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
First of all, I would like to reassure you that there is no need to worry about the current episodes as they would improve with treatment.
The most likely cause for your symptoms could be TIAs (transient ischemic attacks), where the blood supply to a part of brain is reduced for some time (often a few minutes to an hour, but never more than 24 hours), and therefore, the symptoms too recover in the same period of time.
Doing an MRI along with angiogram of brain would sort out the diagnosis (incidentally, MRI does not pose any radiation risk).
CT scans do expose to radiation, however, the amount of radiation with two CT scans is relatively low and generally do not lead to any adverse effects. Also, the symptoms due to radiation would be constant/progressive and not intermittent, as in your case.
I hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.
Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
My reply is below
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
First of all, I would like to reassure you that there is no need to worry about the current episodes as they would improve with treatment.
The most likely cause for your symptoms could be TIAs (transient ischemic attacks), where the blood supply to a part of brain is reduced for some time (often a few minutes to an hour, but never more than 24 hours), and therefore, the symptoms too recover in the same period of time.
Doing an MRI along with angiogram of brain would sort out the diagnosis (incidentally, MRI does not pose any radiation risk).
CT scans do expose to radiation, however, the amount of radiation with two CT scans is relatively low and generally do not lead to any adverse effects. Also, the symptoms due to radiation would be constant/progressive and not intermittent, as in your case.
I hope it helps. Please get back if you have any more queries.
Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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