Anton's syndrome as a presentation of decompression illness

Charles Paul Azzopardi; Lyubisa Matity; Stephen Muscat

doi:10.28920/dhm47.1.59-61

Anton's syndrome as a presentation of decompression illness

Diving Hyperb Med. 2017 Mar;47(1):59-61. doi: 10.28920/dhm47.1.59-61.

Authors

Charles Paul Azzopardi¹, Lyubisa Matity¹, Stephen Muscat¹

Affiliation

¹ Hyperbaric Unit, Mater Dei Hospital, Msida, Malta MSD 2090, charles.a.azzopardi@gov.mt.

Abstract

We present a case of a patient with Anton's syndrome due to decompression illness (DCI) after recreational scuba diving. Visual anosognosia, or denial of loss of vision, which is associated with lack of awareness regarding visual loss in the setting of cortical blindness, is known as Anton's syndrome (also termed Anton-Babinski syndrome). Our patient presented with progressive neurological DCI treated with repeated recompression. The anosogosia resolved after 48 h. Subsequent echocardiography revealed a persistent (patent) foramen ovale.

Keywords: Anosognosia; Case reports; Central nervous system; Decompression sickness.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Agnosia / diagnosis
Agnosia / etiology*
Blindness, Cortical / diagnosis
Blindness, Cortical / etiology*
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Decompression Sickness / complications*
Decompression Sickness / diagnostic imaging
Foramen Ovale, Patent / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged