Complex Coloured Visual Hallucinations During Transient Hemianopia

The Retrochiasmal Optic Pathway: A Link in Jeopardy

“…Nevertheless, and in spite of these not been absolute criteria (13), the absence of other associated neurological deficits (14) the development of formed complex hallucinations (15), the congruency of the visual field defect (13,14) and its peripheral location (16) would argue instead for the anterior striate cortex, at the juncture of the parietooccipital and calcarine fissures (Brodman areas 18 and 19), as the anatomical site responsible for this complication, an area that was in jeopardy during the surgical approach undertaken in this case. Furthermore, the lack of any intrinsic well-defined color as an integral part of these visual phenomena also support Brodman areas 18 and 19 as the causative site of that injury, since the areas involved in colored vision are located away in Brodman areas 37 and 39 (17). This visual deficit could have been avoided by utilizing a transcallosal avenue instead, thus obviating injury to Brodman areas 18 and 19 and making unnecessary the use of the Vycor retractor because the exposure would have been wider.…”