H35: Other retinal disorders

H35.0: Background retinopathy and retinal vascular changes

The retina is a layer inside the eye. It contains a lot of sensory cells that can perceive light. There are sensory cells for colors and sensory cells for light and dark. The sensory cells pass the information on to the nerve cells in the optic nerve.

There are some blood vessels in the retina. In your case, these blood vessels have changed. Changed blood vessels may be narrower or broader than usual. Additional blood vessels may form, too. These changes may be caused by an increased blood pressure, for example. There may be bleeding from the changed or damaged blood vessels. The retina may also be damaged.

If the blood vessels in the retina are changed or damaged, there are often no symptoms at all initially. When there is retinal bleeding or retinal damage, one may see gray spots or shadows. One’s vision may then be worse, too. One may see things distorted or in unusual colors.