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Estrogen and visual hallucinations in a patient with Charles Bonnet syndrome
L H Fernandes1, B Scassellati-Sforzolini, R F Spaide
1LuEsther T. Mertz Retina Research Laboratory, Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital, New York, NY, USA.
Purpose:
To describe the occurrence of visual hallucinations in a patient with Charles Bonnet syndrome associated with estrogen intake.
Method:
Case report.
Results:
An 84-year-old woman with poor visual acuity secondary to bilateral, nonexudative, age-related macular degeneration had nonthreatening visual hallucinations 2 weeks after starting oral estrogen for osteoporosis. The estrogen was stopped, and the hallucinations subsided. The patient was given estrogen twice more and each time the hallucinations recurred.
Conclusion:
We report a case of Charles Bonnet syndrome associated with estrogen intake in an 84-year-old woman. Estrogen may have promoted release phenomena and triggered the hallucinatory episodes in our patient.