Transient global amnesia
Background
- Paroxysmal, transient anterograde amnesia lasting several hours [1]
- Most common in female 40-60yo[2]
Clinical Features
- Anterograde amnesia
- Unaware of their memory loss
- Normal attention and social skills
- Struggle with delayed recall
- Periods of time typically less than 24 hrs, but typically lasts 4-6 hrs[3]
- No localizing symptoms
- If localizing symptoms, consider alternative diagnosis
Differential Diagnosis
- Hypoglycemia
- Hyponatremia
- Meningitis/encephalitis
- Seizure
- CVA
- Hyperosmotic Coma
- Drug toxicity
- Lithium, phenytoin, carbamazepine
- Complicated migraine
- Demyelinating disease (MS)
- Conversion disorder
- Alcohol blackout
Workup
Depending on presentation, consider CVA workup
- Bedside glucose
- Bedside hemoglobin (polycythemia)
- CBC
- Chemistry
- Coags
- Troponin
- ECG (esp A-fib)
- Head CT
- Primarily used to exclude intracranial bleeding, abscess, tumor, other stroke mimics
- Also consider:
- Pregnancy test
- CXR (if infection suspected)
- Urinalysis (if infection suspected)
- Urine toxicology screen (if ingestion suspected)
Management
- Rule out CVA (clinically or with further workup)
- Neurology referral
- Once diagnosed, no specific treatment needed[4]
Disposition
- Discharge home with neurology follow up
- Consider admission for equivocal cases
Prognosis
- Full recovery with amnesia of event
- Annual recurrence rate was 4.7%[5]
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ D Owen et al. Classical diseases revisited: transient global amnesia. Postgrad Med J. 2007 Apr; 83(978): 236–239.
- ↑ Lin KH, et al. Migraine is associated with a higher risk of transient global amnesia: a nationwide cohort study. Eur J Neurol. 2014; 21(5):718-24.
- ↑ Zeman AZ, et al..Transient global amnesia. Br J Hosp Med. 1997; 58:257-60.
- ↑ Owen D, et al. Classical diseases revisited: transient global amnesia. Postgrad Med J. 2007; 83(978):236–239.
- ↑ Hinge HH, et al. The prognosis of transient global amnesia. Results of a multicenter study. Arch Neurol. 1986; 43(7):673-6.