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Restylane Injections Cause Blood Vessel Occlusion on my Left Eye, Now I Am 90%blind

asked 1 year ago by omightymouse in lawndale, ca
Latest answer by Alan Engler, MD
Question viewed 1,050 times
Tags: 2 weeks post-op, eyesight, options, side effects

i had restyland injections done on my forhead on 6/2/11 and on 6/3/11 suddenly my left eye lost vision. Now i am diagnose with Branch retinal artery occlusion OS. My retina specialist said in my left eye, there is a BRAO inferlorly with retinal pallor/ischemia and inferior macular pallor/ischemia OCT:OS= macular edema You said its is rare to find this problem, but can it happend and how to reverse it?

8 answers to Restylane Injections Cause Blood Vessel Occlusion on my Left Eye, Now I Am 90%blind

+2

Restylane in the periocular area causing blindness

The blood supply to the glabellar/forehead region is supplied by the same artery that goes to the eye and there are few if any collateral branches for an inadvertently intravascular injection to follow. this is not the area for restylane or other injectables save for botox. the risk is directly related to the amount of filler, the viscosity of the filler, and the pressure under which it is injected. with time some recovery will occur and you are obviously being followed... more
Rafael C. Cabrera, MD

Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon
+2

Retinal artery occlusion and blindness one day after Restylane injections

The onset of visual impairment or blindness happens fairly quickly after the filler or any other material that can cause blockage, gets into the artery. It is somewhat unusual for it to happen one day after the injection. If hyaluronic acid filler is injected into an artery accidentally, an injection with hyaluronidase may help dissolve it if done quickly. Unfortunately if enough time passes that retinal tissue dies, the loss of vision is permanent. There are other causes of... more
Emily Altman, MD

Short Hills Dermatologic Surgeon

www.advancedskinwisdom.com

+2

Embolization of filler is a risk of treating the glabellar area.

Whether your branch artery occlusion was caused by the Restylane injection or not, this is a terrible event. It sounds like you are getting very good care for this and I advise you to carefully follow the recommendations of the retina specialist. Periocular injection of certain materials is a known risk for embolization into the retinal circulation. Certain injection locations and materials are at increase risk of causing retinal branch artery occlusion. This... more
Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon
+2

Blindness Caused By Restylane

Blindness is an extremely rare complication of filler injections into the glabellar area between the eyes. I have been doing filler injections for over 25 years and have never seen this complication and only heard about it rarely. When we first began doing filler injections in the United States over 25 years ago, collagen derived from cows (called Zyderm) was frequently injected into this area of the forehead without any problems. Then "Zyplast" was developed which was a more... more
Mitchell Schwartz, MD

South Burlington Dermatologic Surgeon

dorsetstreetdermatology.com

+2

There are a variety of causes for retinal artery occlusion

While it is possible that there was delayed occlusion of your retinal artery with Restylane® particles, it will be important for your ophthalmologist to rule out other causes of retinal artery occlusion, because if your problem was a coincidence and is in fact due to some medical condition it will be important to treat the medical condition to reduce the chance that you will have another episode like this in the future, perhaps affecting the other eye. Unlike other HA fillers [which... more
Kevin C. Smith, MD

Niagara Falls Dermatologic Surgeon
+2

Blindness after Forehead Treatment with Filler

RE : "i had Restylane injections done on my forehead on 6/2/11 and on 6/3/11 suddenly my left eye lost vision. Now i am diagnose with Branch retinal artery occlusion OS. My retina specialist said in my left eye, there is a BRAO inferlorly with retinal pallor/ischemia and inferior macular pallor/ischemia OCT:OS= macular edema You said its is rare to find this problem, but can it happend and how to reverse it?" I am VERY sorry to hear of your situation. Such disasters have been... more
Peter A. Aldea, MD

Memphis Plastic Surgeon
+1

Restylane - Restylane Injections Cause Blood Vessel Occlusion on my Left Eye, Now I Am 90%blind

First of all, I am very sorry for the problem you're having. It is, clearly, an unfortunate situation. Also unfortunate is that blindness, whether partial or total, has been associated historically with a wide range of treatments, including fillers (hyaluronic acid, collagen), laser treatments, etc. In the case of fillers it is believed to be a result of either emboli (small bits of tissue or filler that directly occlude - "plug' - the blood vessels to the eye)... more
Alan Engler, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon
+1

Blindness caused by Restylane injections to the Glabella?

You'd have to get recommendations from the ophthalmologist or retinal specialist on how this could be treated and discuss the possible causes. I do not use fillers in the Glabella region because of the potential for vessel (vein) constriction and would add this possibility to the list of reasons that it should not be done IMHO.
Francis R. Palmer, III, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

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