Metamorphopsia and palinopsia. Association with periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges in a patient with malignant astrocytoma.

A patient with a right parietal glioma developed palinopsia and various forms of metamorphopsia that were temporally related to the electrographic presence of periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges. These symptoms occurred in an alert woman with normal visual fields. The literature shows that epileptic events can produce these symptoms. We believe that continuous repetitive electrical stimulation caused our patient's unusual symptoms by altering the association pathways through which visual data are experienced. To our knowledge, the association between periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges and metamorphopsia or palinopsia has heretofore not been reported.