Two cases are reported in which visual hallucinations occurred in elderly patients after the development of senile macular degeneration, a condition that causes gradual loss of visual acuity with preservation of peripheral vision. The hallucinatory experiences are interpreted as delusional explanations for pathologically altered vision, rather than as psychological or phys iological consequences of sensory deprivation. Ocular pathology should be considered in the evaluation of psychotic states in the elderly. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1988;1:108-109).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
James AG: Hearing and premorbid personality in paranoid states. Am J Psychiatry1985;142:1453-1455.
2.
Michaelson IC : Textbook of the Fundus of the Eye, 3 ed. New York, Churchill Livingstone, 1980, pp 597-612.
3.
Rosenbaum F. , Horati Y., Rolak L., Freedman M.: Visual hallucinations in sane people: Charles Bonnet syndrome. J Am Geriatr Soc , 1987;35:66-68.
4.
Damas-Mora J. , Skelton-Robinson M., Jenner F.: The Charles Bonnet syndrome in perspective. Psychol Med1982;12:251-261.
5.
Berrios GE, Brook P.: The Charles Bonnet syndrome and the problem of visual perceptual disorders in the elderly. Age andAging1982;11:17-23.
6.
Morsier G.: Le syndrome de Charles Bonnet: Hallucinations visuelles des vieillards sans déficience mentale. Am Med Psychol1967 ;125:677-706.
7.
Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ (eds): Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 4 ed. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins Co, 1985, pp 321-326.
8.
White NT: Complex visual hallucinations in partial blindness due to eye disease . Br J Psychiatry1980;136:284-286.
