Palinopsia as an epileptic phenomenon

The preservation or recurrence of images in the visual field after removal of the real stimulus is called 'palinopsia' or 'visual perseveration' which can be split up into three different types according to the latency between the real external stimulus and its apparent recurrence. For a long time it was subject of discussion whether the delusion is a sign of lacking cortical inhibition or of a cortical afterimage or part of an epileptic seizure. If there are different reasons for the three sorts of visual perseveration has not been answered yet. In our case report, however, it is possible to demonstrate a patient's posttraumatic lateralized long-latency visual perseveration for the first time as a clear-cut focal epileptic seizure which is approved by synchronous temporo-parietal epileptic discharges in the electroencephalogram.