Visual field recovery in a patient with bilateral occipital lobe damage

We report on a patient with an asymmetrical bilateral developmental anomaly of the occipital lobes which led to a loss of almost the entire visual fie ld. MRI and (18)FDG scans confirmed the presence of a larger lesion of the visual cortex of the right hemisphere. The patient recovered parts of her v isual field with time as measured by computerized perimetry, progressing fr om near blindness of the right eye to a remarkable recovery of vision. Beca use the patient had neonatal damage to both occipital lobes, we hypothesize d a cortical plasticity process similar to that described in subhuman speci es.