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Patrice Laloux, MD; Christine Brichant, MD; Francisca Cauwe, BSc; Patrick Decoster, MD

Arch Neurol. 1992;49(5):543-546.

Abstract
• Five right-handed patients with pure transient global amnesia were evaluated with technetium-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime single photon emission computed tomography after the amnesic attack. Independent of the interval between the procedure and the amnesic episode, single photon emission computed tomography demonstrated a decreased cerebral blood flow in the left temporal lobe in one patient and in the left parietotemporal region in three patients, with a more marked reduction in the temporal lobe. The remaining three patients were normal. A control single photon emission computed tomographic study was carried out in one patient 3 months after the amnesic attack and showed a left-sided persistent temporal hypoperfusion. These findings suggest that in some patients, transient global amnesia can be due to a vascular mechanism requiring strong investigations for vascular risk factors and appropriate treatment. During a follow-up period of 12 to 32 months, none of the patients with regional hypoperfusion suffered cerebrovascular events, suggesting that single photon emission computed tomography has no predictive value for further stroke.

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Neurology (Dr Laloux) and Nuclear Medicine (Drs Brichant and Decoster and Ms Cauwe), Mont-Godinne Hospital, University of Louvain, Yvoir, Belgium.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication December 6, 1991.

Presented at the Fifth Toronto (Ontario) Stroke Workshop, September 12, 1990.

Reprint requests to Department of Neurology, Mont-Godinne University Hospital, B-5530 Yvoir, Belgium (Dr Laloux).

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