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The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations

A 74-year-old man reported experiencing hallucinations of a dog standing on his right side, following a recent episode of infective endocarditis. There was no history of reduced conscious level, psychosis or substance misuse. Neurological examination revealed an isolated right inferior quadrantopia,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gulsin, Gaurav Singh, Gali, Swetha, Patel, Prashanth, Gupta, Pankaj
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4731739/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26835149
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/omcr/omv073
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author Gulsin, Gaurav Singh
Gali, Swetha
Patel, Prashanth
Gupta, Pankaj
author_facet Gulsin, Gaurav Singh
Gali, Swetha
Patel, Prashanth
Gupta, Pankaj
author_sort Gulsin, Gaurav Singh
collection PubMed
description A 74-year-old man reported experiencing hallucinations of a dog standing on his right side, following a recent episode of infective endocarditis. There was no history of reduced conscious level, psychosis or substance misuse. Neurological examination revealed an isolated right inferior quadrantopia, and the hallucinations were visible only in the area of the visual defect. A computed tomography scan confirmed a left occipital lobe infarct, congruent with the clinical signs. The infarct was deemed to be have originated from a septic embolus of his infected aortic valve and he was diagnosed with Charles Bonnet's syndrome (CBS). CBS is characterized by the presence of stereotyped visual hallucinations on a background of partial sight and in the absence of any psychotic illness. Early recognition can prevent wrongful diagnosis of a psychiatric condition, which may provide comfort to patients. Management is centred on reassurance and counselling, with medical therapies reserved only for patients experiencing distressing hallucinations.
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spelling pubmed-47317392016-01-31 The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations Gulsin, Gaurav Singh Gali, Swetha Patel, Prashanth Gupta, Pankaj Oxf Med Case Reports Case Reports A 74-year-old man reported experiencing hallucinations of a dog standing on his right side, following a recent episode of infective endocarditis. There was no history of reduced conscious level, psychosis or substance misuse. Neurological examination revealed an isolated right inferior quadrantopia, and the hallucinations were visible only in the area of the visual defect. A computed tomography scan confirmed a left occipital lobe infarct, congruent with the clinical signs. The infarct was deemed to be have originated from a septic embolus of his infected aortic valve and he was diagnosed with Charles Bonnet's syndrome (CBS). CBS is characterized by the presence of stereotyped visual hallucinations on a background of partial sight and in the absence of any psychotic illness. Early recognition can prevent wrongful diagnosis of a psychiatric condition, which may provide comfort to patients. Management is centred on reassurance and counselling, with medical therapies reserved only for patients experiencing distressing hallucinations. Oxford University Press 2016-01-29 /pmc/articles/PMC4731739/ /pubmed/26835149 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/omcr/omv073 Text en © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Case Reports
Gulsin, Gaurav Singh
Gali, Swetha
Patel, Prashanth
Gupta, Pankaj
The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations
title The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations
title_full The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations
title_fullStr The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations
title_full_unstemmed The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations
title_short The curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations
title_sort curious case of an invisible dog: a patient with non-psychiatric visual hallucinations
topic Case Reports
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4731739/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26835149
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/omcr/omv073
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