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An unfrecuenty case of Auditory Charles-Bonnet syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2025

E. S. Gisbert*
Affiliation:
PSYCHIATRY/NEUROLOGY, HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO INFANTA SOFIA, SAN SEBASTIAN DE LOS REYES, Spain
M. J. A. Abildua
Affiliation:
PSYCHIATRY/NEUROLOGY, HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO INFANTA SOFIA, SAN SEBASTIAN DE LOS REYES, Spain
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

In 1760, Charles Bonnet, a Genoese naturalist and philosopher, described the case of his grandfather, who experienced vivid, elaborate, and recurrent visual hallucinations and who also suffered from visual impairment. Bonnet himself later developed visual impairment and experienced similar symptoms. Since then, there have been multiple reports and cases in the European literature regarding this syndrome.

Objectives

Auditory Charles-Bonnet syndrome describes a rare condition presenting with sensorineural hearing loss, which can result in auditory-musical hallucinations in the absence of an acoustic stimulus. It has been reported in patients with diseases such as psychiatric disorders and organic brain diseases. However, the most common are idiopathic musical hallucinations that occur along with deafness in elderly people. Musical hallucinations that accompany hearing loss may reflect impaired brain function.

Methods

We present the case of a 84-year-old woman with a long-standing history of depression, who also presents mild bilateral pantonal sensorineural hearing loss with associated subjective tinnitus, without other associated somatic and/or psychiatric symptoms. In addition, a CT study of the head was performed which revealed severe fronto-temporal cortical atrophy.

Results

The treatment remains the subject of extensive research. Some authors have reported that hearing aids, antiepileptic drugs, benzodiazepines and antipsychotics can alleviate musical hallucination, which in the case of our patient was eradicated, so the contribution of this case could enrich the current bibliography.

Conclusions

This is unfrecuently presentation of Charles Bonnet symdrom.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Information

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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