OPHTHALMOPATHIC HALLUCINATION

The term ophthalmopathic hallucination is indebted to the Greek wordsophthalmos(eye) andpathos(suffering). It is used to denote a * visual hallucination occurring in individuals suffering from a visual impairment, as in * Charles Bonnet syndrome. The adjective oph-thalmopathic refers to the purported mediation of these visual hallucinations: not by an ocular condition per se but by a lesion that may affect any part of the optical system. Ophthalmopathic hallucinations tend to manifest themselves in the impaired visual field, but they can also present within the intact field of vision. Phenomenolog-ically, these hallucinations usually take the form of complex images depicting objects or human beings which may or may not be moving about. They have also been described as hallucinations filling the whole field of vision, with a fracture line at the border line between the amaurotic and intact hemifields.

Lamy, H. (1895). Hémianopsie avec hallucinations dans la partie abolie du champ de la vision.Revue Neurologique, 3, 129-135.

Lhermitte, J. (1959).Les hallucinations dans leurs relations avec les lésions du lobe occipital. Paris: Masson et Cie., Éditeurs.