Transient global amnesia

Abstract

Patients (30) aged between 45 and 78 yr and who had suffered from transient global amnesia (TGA) were seen at the Department of Neurology, Pordenone Public Hospital, in the period 1978-1982. Patients (25) had 1 or more risk factors for cerebrovascular disease, such as hypertension, cardiac abnormalities, diabetes and hyperlipidemia. EEG examination revealed abnormal activity only in 7 patients. Brain computed tomography showed cerebral atrophy in 10 and hypodense lesions in 3 patients. Sixteen patients were followed-up for a mean interval of 20 mo. During the follow-up period, 4 patients had recurrent TGA and 1 had a transient ischemic attack in the vertebrobasilar arterial system. In the follow-up group, 15 patients showed permanent memory impairment. The high incidence of risk factors for cerebrovascular disease seems to confirm that TGA is probably due to transient cerebral ischemia. The high rate of permanent memory impairment, almost always connected with the coexistence of cerebrovascular risk factors, is not in agreement with the postulated good prognosis of TGA.