Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

A case of corticobasal degeneration presenting with visual hallucination

Kentaro Nagaoka, M.D.1)2), Shingo Ookawa, M.D.1), Kiyoshi Maeda, M.D.2)

1)Institute for Aging Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Hyogo Brain and Heart Center
2)Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Kobe University School of Medicine

We report a case of corticobasal degeneration (CBD) presenting with visual hallucination. A 65-year-old woman showed clumsiness of the left hand. Clinical symptoms slowly progressed to include rigidity, which was left side dominant, limb-kinetic apraxia of the left hand, disorder of construction and dressing, unilateral spatial neglect, cortical sensory loss and alien limb phenomenon. Cranial MRI showed atrophy of the parietal and medial aspect of the frontal lobes, which was more severe on the right than on the left. SPECT images showed hypoperfusion in the parietal, frontal and temporal lobes, which were similarly more severe on the right than on the left. We diagnosed the patient as having CBD based on the clinical symptoms. Two years'later, she developed recurrent visual hallucinations that were typically well formed and detailed. Since patients with CBD generally do not experience visual hallucination, this case is considered the very rare and indicates the possibility that visual hallucination may be one of the clinical symptoms of CBD.

(CLINICA NEUROL, 44: 193|197, 2004)
key words: corticobasal degeneration, visual hallucination, occipital lobe, dementia with Lewy bodies

(Received: 27-Jul-03)