A FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF A PATIENT WITH BALINTS SYNDROME

A 38 year old patient is described who developed a minor form of Balint's syndrome following a decompressive operation for an Arnold-Chiari type malformation. During operation there was severe hypotension and anoxia. On recovering consciousness impairment of eye movements, limitation of visual attention and visual disorientation were observed. There is no anatomical confirmation of the site of the lesion but the visual field defects suggested biparieto-occipital lesions. Wandering eye movements and locking of fixation only occurred during the initial observations but defective scanning movements were observed for a much longer period. Tachistoscopically there was disturbance of simultaneous form perception but later this improved, as did the visual inattention. The changes seen in this patient over a 4 1 2year follow-up period in eye movements, visual attention, visual orientation and reading are discussed. © 1969.