A Case of Charles Bonnet Syndrome After Enucleation

Yong Soo Byun; So Jung Shin; Suk-Woo Yang

doi:10.3341/jkos.2008.49.4.669

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Byun, Shin, and Yang: A Case of Charles Bonnet Syndrome After Enucleation

Original Article

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2008;49(4):669-672.

Published online: 7 September 2008

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2008.49.4.669

A Case of Charles Bonnet Syndrome After Enucleation

Yong Soo Byun, M.D., So Jung Shin, M.D., Suk-Woo Yang, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Ophthalmology, Gangnam St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to Suk-Woo Yang, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Ophthalmology, Gangnam St. Mary's Hospital #505 Banpo 4-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea Tel: 82-2-590-1523, FaxL 82-2-590-2044, E-mail: yswoph@hanmail.net

Received 31 May 2007 Accepted 16 October 2007

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

To report a case of Charles Bonnet syndrome in a patient who developed phantom vision of an enucleated eye. The patient had lost her vision because of a chemical burn 10 years previously.

Case summary

A 37-year-old woman received enucleation of one eye because ocular pain and phthisis had developed due to a chemical burn that occurred 10 years previously. On the first postoperative day, she complained of phantom vision in the enucleated eye. The image she described was like sparkling bubbles. She had recognized the image was not real, and no psychological problems were found during pre- and postoperative periods. Her wound state was good, so she is currently wearing an artificial eye, though her phantom vision intermittently returns. She has adapted to her phantom vision such that she now rarely feels discomfort.

Results

Charles Bonnet syndrome is a visual hallucination that occurs among the blind or those who are visually impaired. Besides ophthalmologic care, sociological and psychological care should be considered.

Keywords: Charles bonnet syndrome, Enucleation, Phantom vision, Psychological care

References

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Figure 1.

Patient's artistic description of phantom vision. Note that numerous floating and sparkling bubbles. They indepently move and oscilate. The image patient described was rarely changed. (Illustrated by Sojung Shin)

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