Homonymous Hemianopsia Associated with Probable Alzheimer's Disease

Homonymous hemianopsia versus unilateral spatial neglect rehabilitation strategies in stroke patients

Abstract Visual rehabilitation therapy is one of the most problematic issue in stroke rehabilitation. The difficulties consist in specific assessment of visual deficit and poor results reports by the authors of the clinical studies. Opposite, experimental studies reports encouraging results that give hopes in this specific rehabilitation therapy. There are still difficult to analyze different aquisitions concerning various visual residual deficits after stroke, the main rehabilitation targgets being motor rehabilitation in order to ensure at least a partial autonomy in day by day life. All the studies that proved there are chances for a better quality of life if there is an improvement of visual abilities together with motor and cognitive skills with a better rehabilitation prognosis. The aim of this paper is to make a brief report regarding two of the most important visual deficits after stroke as are homonymous hemianopsia and neglect. Starting with differential diagnosis, neuroplasticity and specific rehabilitation available method, the main issues are discussed. a better understanding of phenomena that are associated with spontaneous rehabilitation, or enhancing the progress of recuperation by various method, could be able to bring a new light and hopefully better results in rehabilitation for these patients Key words: stroke, visual impairment, visual rehabilitation, neuroplasticity, homonymous hemianopsia,

Posterior Type of Alzheimer's Dementia Presenting with Homonymous Hemianopsia

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative condition, mostly affecting the medial temporal lobe and associated neocortical structures. In this report, we present a rare clinical manifestation of this disease.

CASE REPORT

A 61-year-old female with word finding difficulty and memory disturbances was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Two years later, she complained of right homonymous hemianopia without optic ataxia, ocular apraxia, and simultagnosia. No findings other than parenchymal disease were apparent in magnetic resonance imaging and laboratory tests.

CONCLUSIONS

In this case, in a patient initially diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia with progressive disease, we found only homonymous hemianopia, without signs of Balint's syndrome or Gerstmann's syndrome. After careful investigation showing that Alzheimer's dementia with visual symptom was not associated with parenchymal disease, we concluded a case of atypical variant of Alzheimer's disease.