Objective:
Investigation of the prevalence of Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) among cases with low visual acuity.
Methods:
Patients admitted to İstanbul Medipol University Ophthalmology Clinic were investigated retrospectively from the outpatient clinic records. Patients with best corrected visual acuity of 0.3 or less were noted in the screening results, and were examined for CBS at the next follow-up examinations. Visual acuity measurements were done according to the Snellen chart. Patients with schizophrenia, depression and alcohol use were not included in the study. Only cases with complex visual hallucinations were evaluated as CBS. Patients with simple visual hallucinations such as lightning flashes or light rays were not considered to be CBS.
Results:
As a result of the investigation, 208 cases compliant with visual loss were detected. In the follow-up examinations of these patients, there CBS findings were observed in 12 patients. The mean age of these cases was 71±1.4 (between 61-77) years. Seven patients (58.3%) were female and 5 patients (41.7%) were male.
Conclusion:
CBS is a relatively common disease which should not be underestimated among low vision patients. We think that the diagnosis of the disease is extremely important for avoiding the medico-social problems due to hallucinations as well as the negative conditions caused by the existing ocular diseases of these group of patients.
Keywords: Charles Bonnet syndrome, low visual acuity, visual hallucination