Peduncular hallucinosis: unusual complication of cardiac catheterization

Peduncular hallucinosis (PH) is a rare form of visual hallucination characterized by vivid, nonstereotypical visual images of people, animals, and plants of brief duration that are nonthreatening to the patient. The clinical syndrome of PH consists of formed visual hallucinations, localizing signs of the offending lesion, and sleep disturbances. In the absence of localizing focal neurologic deficits, it is easily confused with a delirium or psychosis. It is seen with lesions involving the upper brainstem and diencephalon. The authors report a case of PH due to ischemic infarction of the midbrain after cardiac catheterization. Although PH has been reported after vertebral angiography, it has never been reported as a complication of cardiac catheterization.