sildenafil-citrate and Scotoma

Topics: Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Retina; Scotoma; Sildenafil Citrate; Suicide, Attempted; Treatment Outcome

Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Nerve Fibers; Optic Neuropathy, Ischemic; Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors; Retinal Ganglion Cells; Scotoma; Sildenafil Citrate; Tomography, Optical Coherence; Visual Acuity; Visual Field Tests; Visual Fields

Topics: Color Vision Defects; Fluorescein Angiography; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors; Piperazines; Purines; Scotoma; Sildenafil Citrate; Sulfones; Tomography, Optical Coherence; Visual Field Tests; Visual Fields

A 65-year-old man had an embolic stroke of both posterior cerebral arteries in 2002. Two years later he noted rapid improvement of the residual bilateral inferior quadrant anopia whenever he took 25 mg sildenafil. The improvement of scotomas was verified by visual field examinations and persisted reproducibly for 3-7 days. An overlay of a subtraction of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during visual stimulation before and after medication onto a T1-weighted MRI of the patient revealed additional activations along the margins of the old cerebral infarctions. These findings and the additional results of a perfusion MRI suggest that phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors may prove beneficial in the rehabilitative course after ischemic strokes.

Topics: Aged; Cerebral Infarction; Humans; Male; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; Piperazines; Purines; Scotoma; Sildenafil Citrate; Sulfones