Illusory lower limb levitation and involuntary moving toes following herpes zoster myelitis.

Abstract

We describe herein the first case report of illusory perception of levitation associated with VZV myelitis in a 68-year-old woman without known immune deficiency. She had absolutely no sensibility regarding position and movements of her lower limbs, while simultaneously she described spontaneous and continuous feeling as if her lower limbs floated in the air (levitation). Moreover, she intermittently presented involuntary bilateral spontaneously irregular slow-up oscillating painless movements, affecting ankles and toes. We discuss on the current pathogenetic hypotheses on both phenomena (levitation and involuntary limb movement) in the literature. Our patient represents a good example of the plastic aspects of the brain body schema with an anomalous positive disconnecting syndrome secondary to spinal cord lesion.