Hallucinations and reversed cerebral dominance in mesial temporal sclerosis

Abstract

The localizing value of experiential phenomena in temporal and occipital lobe epilepsy has become increasingly elucidated. We describe complex visual and auditory hallucinations in a right-handed adolescent and review the localization value of ictal visual and auditory auras in partial epilepsy. A 15-year-old right-handed girl with 2 previous secondarily generalized seizures manifested a new semiology of complex visual and auditory hallucinations, characterized by seeing a school bus full of children and then hearing a male voice tell her to "feed the children." Feeling compelled, she "fed" the children, and they reboarded the bus and the bus drove away. Video electroencephalogram monitoring demonstrated fluent language during her seizures. Magnetic resonance imaging was compatible with left mesial temporal sclerosis. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography demonstrated left temporal hypometabolism. An ictal single-photon emission computed tomography study demonstrated left anterior temporal hyperperfusion; Wada testing revealed reversed cerebral dominance. The patient underwent left anterior temporal lobectomy without complication and remains seizure-free. Complex auditory and visual hallucinations can occur in occipitotemporal and anteromedial temporal epilepsy. Reversed cerebral dominance is more common in children than adults and should be considered in any dextral person with fluent ictal speech with a left-sided epileptogenic lesion.