Causes can include traumatic head injury, neurosurgery (for example, to treat severe epilepsy), anoxia/hypoxia (lack of oxygen), ischaemia, viral infection ( Instead, the focus is on the amnesic condition as a long-lasting or permanent disorder, emerging from an organic or neurological cause. However, the nature of these problems means that other functional and mechanistic descriptions likely apply, and so they are outside the scope of this overview.

The extensive impacts of this condition mean that individuals with amnesia usually require assistance in daily life.Īmnesia can be temporary or have a psychological root (for example, transient global amnesiaĢ) and is a term used in reference to memory problems in various neurological conditions (for example, amnestic mild cognitive impairment). Mnesis (memory), and at a broad level, amnesia can be defined as a profound loss of memory. This is likely due in part to the centrality of memory in defining our place in the world and sense of self, in enabling effective everyday functioning, and of the often-striking loss of memory function in patients with amnesia, relative to healthy individuals. It can be divided into 3 different types: immediate or working.The ‘amnesic syndrome’ has a relatively high profile both in the neuropsychological literature and in popular culture. Memory is the brain function that allows us to encode, store, and retrieve information. The studies referenced in this article were selected based on study quality and clinical relevance. We also reviewed the bibliographies cited in the retrieved articles. The content of this review is based on a literature search of PubMed, with no date limitations, using the following search terms (or combinations of them): transient global amnesia, etiology, pathophysiology, venous hypertension, migraine, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, electroencephalography, prognosis, and outcome. Herein, we also review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis, and expected long-term outcome of TGA. We aim to synthetize current knowledge and to propose a practical approach to this condition that can be useful for daily practice. However, TGA can be encountered by internists, emergency department physicians, and family medicine practitioners. Several reviews on TGA have been published, (7-12) but they have all been addressed to neurologists. Yet, the cause and mechanisms of TGA remain unclear. Since the first description of the disorder, a lot has been published about its clinical characteristics, and several hypotheses regarding its pathogenesis have been proposed. Initially referred to as a heterogeneous clinical syndrome, the approach to the condition was refined by the diagnostic criteria proposed by Caplan (4) and consolidated by Hodges and Warlow (5,6) in 1990. Yet, it was not until 1964 that it gained recognition as we know it today, when Fisher and Adams (3) described the syndrome as TGA. Transient global amnesia (TGA) was initially described in 1956 by Bender, (1) and at the same time but independently by Coupon and Guyotat, (2) as a syndrome characterized by sudden and temporary memory loss. Data on long-term prognosis are limited, but available information suggests that the relapse rate is low, the risk of stroke and seizures is not considerably increased, and cognitive outcome is generally good. Brain imaging may be considered and electroencephalography is recommended when episodes are brief and recurrent, but otherwise no investigations are necessary in most cases. Several pathophysiologic mechanisms have been proposed (venous insufficiency, arterial ischemia, and migrainous or epileptic phenomena), but none of them has been proved to consistently explain cases of TGA.

Transient global amnesia is a clinical diagnosis, and recognition of its characteristic features can avoid unnecessary testing. We also reviewed the bibliography cited in the retrieved articles. For this review, we conducted a literature search of PubMed, with no date limitations, using the following search terms (or combinations of them): transient global amnesia, etiology, pathophysiology, venous hypertension, migraine, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, electroencephalography, prognosis, and outcome. Herein, we review current knowledge on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical diagnosis, and prognosis of TGA. Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the sudden onset of anterograde amnesia (the inability to encode new memories), accompanied by repetitive questioning, sometimes with a retrograde component, lasting up to 24 hours, without compromise of other neurologic functions.

Juvenile temporary amnesia