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Transient global amnesia: disease or syndrome?

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Abstract

Transient global amnesia (TGA) has been defined as the presence of an impairment of short-term memory, retrograde amnesia and repetitive queries, without any other neurological signs or symptoms. The precise pathophysiology of TGA is unclear, although thromboembolic, epileptic, migrainous and metabolic mechanisms have been suggested. We have studied the clinical, biohumoral, electroencephalographic and neuro-imaging data relating to 25 patients with TGA, and found a prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. We also found a higher incidence of electrical changes in the patients whose TGA was of shorter duration, whereas brain CT scans revealed ischemic lesions more frequently in the patients with TGA of longer duration. Our findings seem to confirm the hypothesis that TGA is a heterogenous clinical syndrome consisting of pure and ischemic forms.

Sommario

L'amnesia globale transitoria (TGA) è caratterizzata dall'insorgenza improvvisa di incapacità a memorizzare, amnesia retrograda, ripetitività delle domande, in assenza di altri segñi o sintomi neurologici. La fisiopatologia dell'anmesia globale transitoria è incerta; sono stati proposti meccanismi tromboembolici, epilettici e metabolici.

Abbiamo studiato 25 pazienti affetti da TGA nei quali sono state praticate le indagini cliniche, laboratoristiche, strumentali di base, E.E.G., TC, cerebrale, ecodoppler dei tronchi sovraaortici. E stata dimostrata una maggiore incidenza di ipertensione arteriosa e di ipercolesterolemia.

Inoltre abbiamo riscontrato una maggiore frequenza di alterazioni elettroencefalografiche nei pazienti con TGA di minore durata. Viceversa le lesioni ischemiche riscontrate alla TC cerebrale sono risultate più frequenti nei pazienti con TGA di maggiore durata. Questi dati, sebbene statisticamente non significativi, sembrano confermare l'ipotesi che la TGA sia una sindrome eterogenea, comprensiva di una forma pura, e una forma ischemica.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento d'Emergenza, Medicina d'Urgenza e P.S. Ospedale San Martino, Genova, Italy

    Moccia F., Aramini A., Montobbio P., Altomonte F. & Greco G.

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  1. Moccia F.
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  2. Aramini A.
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  3. Montobbio P.
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  4. Altomonte F.
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  5. Greco G.
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Moccia, F., Aramini, A., Montobbio, P. et al. Transient global amnesia: disease or syndrome?. Ital J Neuro Sci 17, 211–214 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01995685

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01995685

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