[Treatment of chronic retinal artery obstruction with stellate ganglion block and electric acupuncture].

A 56-year-old man (160 cm, 64 kg) having right visual field defect due to obstruction of the central retinal artery for 6 months was treated with stellate ganglion block and electric acupuncture. His visual field improved slightly immediately after preliminary treatment with stellate ganglion block and electric acupuncture judging from perimeter recording and his complaints. Stellate ganglion block on every day and electric acupuncture on every other day were performed for 10 days and there after these treatments were done two times a week. Twenty days after starting the treatment, his visual field improved on his perimeter examination. We discussed that the cause of improvement was activation of slept cone cells which needed more energy for activation than rod cells by increasing retinal blood flow with stellate ganglion block and electric acupuncture. We recommend vasodilating treatments such as stellate ganglion block and electric acupuncture for visual field defect due to obstruction of central retinal artery even in chronic state.