The musical hallucinations: A particular pathology impacting on patients' quality of life

An 83-year-old female patient consulted the emergency room because of the brutal apparition of hearing hallucinations. In her medical history, we noted mainly a bilateral deafness. She was hearing the French national hymn ‘‘La Marseillaise’’ on a loop, and it only stopped when listening to the television. Clinical examinations did not note abnormalities, except for bilateral presbyacousia confirmed by an ENT exam. The biological assessment, psychometric evaluation, electroencephalogram, cerebral scanner and MRI were normal. The psychiatric evaluation found no disease. During the follow-up, treatments at risk of iatrogenia, were gradually stopped (Bromazepam, Acebutolol and Paroxetin) but unsuccessfully. After a 3-month evolution without medication, she had learnt to manage her musical hallucinations, which disappeared when she concentrated on another activity containing a hearing stimulation. They also disappeared during her sleep. She said that