title: Charles Bonnet's syndrome: not only a condition of the elderly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether the experience of visual hallucinations, namely Charles Bonnet's syndrome, in psychologically healthy people is a phenomenon solely of elderly, visually impaired people.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective controlled study, four groups of subjects (total 324) were formed: age ≤40 years, no visual impairment; age ≤40 years, visually impaired; age >40 years, no visual impairment; age >40 years, visually impaired. Visual impairment was defined as best-corrected visual acuity ≤0.3 (Snellen) in the better-seeing eye. Each group consisted of 81 subjects. Visual hallucinations were defined as complex visual perceptions. After ruling out psychiatric causes for visual hallucinations or medication related to the experience of visual hallucinations, affected subjects underwent a detailed interview about their visual hallucinations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of visual hallucinations among young subjects with visual impairment was 4.9 %; among the elderly visually impaired subjects, it was 6.2 %. The difference was not statistically significant. No subject without visual impairment experienced visual hallucinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Charles Bonnet's syndrome is not limited to elderly people suffering from visual impairment, though there tends to be a higher prevalence of visual hallucinations in this group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany. heike.elflein@unimedizin-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Heike M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Elflein
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rudy
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.|Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH), University Medical Center, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ponto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center, Untere Zahlbacher Str. 8, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scheurich
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013577:Syndrome; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Charles Bonnet’s syndrome; Visual hallucinations; Visual impairment