Improvement of photostress recovery testing after extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery.

A patient with carotid occlusive disease experienced episodes of light-induced amaurosis in an eye with changes of venous stasis retinopathy. Though his macula appeared normal on examination, the macular photostress test (MPST) was prolonged. After anastomosis of a superficial temporal artery with the middle cerebral artery his symptoms resolved and his MPST returned to normal. The MPST may serve as a diagnostic stress test for the retinal circulation in cases of carotid disease.