Unusual Visual Symptoms and Ganser-Like State Due To Cerebral Injury: A Case Study Using 18F-Deoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography

Abstract

Bizarre visual symptoms and absurd verbal responses to questions, in a 32-year-old man recovering from a severe asthma episode, suggested a possible conversion disorder with Ganser-like symptoms. Positron Emission Tomography (PET)revealed bilateral lesions involving occipital association cortex and posterior temporal and parietal lobes, most likely infarcts from hypoxia. PET permitted correlation of the patient’s specific cortical lesions with his unusual perceptual, cognitive, and speech symptoms, including Ganser-like state , to a degree not previously possible in such cases.