Visual field recovery in a patient with bilateral occipital lobe damage

We report on a patient with an asymmetrical bilateral developmental anomaly of the occipital lobes which led to a loss of almost the entire visual field. MRI and 18FDG scans confirmed the presence of a larger lesion of the visual cortex of the right hemisphere. The patient recovered parts of her visual field with time as measured by computerized perimetry, progressing from near blindness of the right eye to a remarkable recovery of vision. Because the patient had neonatal damage to both occipital lobes, we hypothesized a cortical plasticity process similar to that described in subhuman species.