ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics of vascular neuro-ophthalmology in patients with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). MethodsA single-center, prospective clinical study. From January 2018 to December 2020, 49 eyes of 49 CRAO patients of The Neuro-ophthalmology Department of Xi'an First Hospital were included in the study. Data on patient demographic characteristics, vascular risk factors, disease characteristics, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) imaging characteristics of internal carotid arteries, treatment, treatment-related adverse events, and 1-month follow-up vascular events were collected. All patiens were examined by visual acuity, head CT and or magnetic resonance imaging. At the same time, 35 cases of internal carotid artery vascular DSA were examined; 14 cases of head and neck CT angiography were examined. The anatomical variation of the extracranial segment of the internal carotid artery was divided into tortuous, tortuous, and coiled; the aortic arch was divided into type Ⅰ, type Ⅱ, type Ⅲ, and bovine type. Intravenous thrombolysis, arterial thrombolysis, conservative treatment were performed. The follow-up time was 1 month after treatment. Functional vision was defined as vision ≥20/100. Vascular events were strokes, cardiovascular events, deaths and neovascular glaucoma during follow-up. ResultsAmong 49 eyes of 49 cases, 40 eyes were male (81.6%, 40/49), and 9 eyes were female (18.4%, 9/49); the average age was 60.7±12.9 years. There were 33, 17, and 16 cases with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cerebrovascular disease, respectively; 27 and 34 cases had a history of smoking and tooth loss, respectively. Taking antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, antiplatelet aggregation/anticoagulation, and hypolipidemic drugs were 15, 5, 8, and 5 patients, respectively. There were 11 cases of transient amaurosis before the onset, and 17 cases of CRAO after waking up. There were 33 cases (67.3%, 33/49) with infarction of the affected side of the brain tissue. DSA was performed in 35 cases, and the stenosis rate of the internal carotid artery on the affected side was 70%-99% and 100% were 3 (8.6%, 3/35) and 4 (11.4%, 4/35) cases, respectively. The ophthalmic artery on the affected side originated from the external carotid artery in 5 cases (14.3%, 5/35). There were 17 (54.8%, 17/31) and 2 (6.5%, 2/31) cases of tortuousity and kinking in the extracranial segment of the internal carotid artery. There were 15 (42.9%, 15/35), 6 (17.1%, 6/35), and 2 (5.7%, 2/35) cases of aortic arch type Ⅱ, type Ⅲ, and bovine type, respectively. Intravenous thrombolysis and arterial thrombolysis were performed in 13 and 29 cases, respectively. Complications occurred in 2 cases during treatment; 3 cases of symptoms fluctuated after treatment, and 10 cases of asymptomatic new infarcts occurred in imaging studies. Forty-eight cases were treated with antiplatelet aggregation/anticoagulation and hypolipidemic treatment. At discharge and 1 month after treatment, the recovery of functional vision was 7 and 17 cases, respectively. One month after treatment, 1 case died because myocardial infarction; 2 cases of neovascular glaucoma occurred. ConclusionThe proportion of CRAO patients with vascular risk factors and internal carotid artery abnormalities on the affected side is relatively high; the prognosis is relatively good after intravenous thrombolysis and/or arterial thrombolysis and secondary stroke prevention.