[Migraine with multiple visual symptoms and out-of-body experience may mimic epilepsy].
Kyoko Hosokawa, Kiyohide Usami, Shunsuke Kajikawa, Akihiro Shimotake, Yoshihisa Tatsuoka, Akio Ikeda, Ryosuke Takahashi
Rinsho shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology August 30, 2021 DOI: 10.5692/clinicalneurol.cn-001577 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAn 18-year-old man experienced visual symptoms—a diagonal line shifting his upper visual field right and lower left, rippled distortion, and moving black spots—followed by an out-of-body experience (OBE) where he felt he saw his own body from behind his left shoulder, then headache attacks. Brain MRI showed suspected bilateral occipital atrophy; EEG revealed intermittent irregular delta in the bilateral occipital area without epileptiform discharges. He was diagnosed with migraine with multiple visual auras and OBE. A small dose of valproic acid was well tolerated and effective. OBE rarely occurs in migraine and should be distinguished from epilepsy.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | An 18-year-old man with visual symptoms, out-of-body experience, and headache attacks |
| Intervention | valproic acid |
| Dose | a small dose |
| Keywords | Epilepsy Migraine Out-of-body experience Visual symptoms |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Out-of-body experience can occur as a rare aura in migraine and should be distinguished from epilepsy. |
Abstract
The patient was an 18-year-old man who had suffered from various visual symptoms as follows since he was 17 years old: 1) a diagonal line appeared in his visual field, shifting his upper field of view to the right and his lower field of view to the left; 2) his whole vision seemed distorted with ripples; and 3) black spots covered parts of his visual field and moved up and down. These visual symptoms were followed by out-of-body experience (OBE), which he felt as seeing his own body apart from his left back. Headache attacks followed these symptoms. On brain MRI, bilateral occipital atrophy was suspected. An electroencephalogram showed intermittent irregular delta in the bilateral occipital area. No epileptiform discharges were observed. We finally diagnosed him as having migraine with multiple visual auras and OBE. He was very well treated with a small dose of valproic acid which he tolerated well. OBE rarely occurs in migraine and should be distinguished from epilepsy.