Affiliations: IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio FBF, Brescia, Italy | Vita Salute University and San Raffaele Scientific
Institute, Milan, Italy | Department of Neurology, Policlinico San Donato,
University of Milan, Italy | Cognitive Science, University of Turin, Italy | IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy | Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnologies,
University of Brescia, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Claudia Repetto, IRCCS Fatebenefratelli S.
Giovanni di Dio, Via Pilastroni, 4 Brescia, Italy. Tel.: +39 0303501594; Fax:
+39 0303501513; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: We describe a 47-year-old man who referred to the Emergency
Department for sudden global amnesia and left mild motor impairment in the
setting of increased arterial blood pressure. The acute episode resolved within
24 hours. Despite general recovery and the apparent transitory nature of the
event, a persistent selective impairment in recollecting events from some
specific topics of his personal life became apparent. Complete
neuropsychological tests one week after the acute onset and 2 months later
demonstrated a clear retrograde memory deficit contrasting with the
preservation of anterograde memory and learning abilities. One year later, the
autobiographic memory deficit was unmodified, except for what had been
re-learnt. Brain MRI was normal while H20 brain PET scans demonstrated
hypometabolism in the right globus pallidus and putamen after 2 weeks from
onset, which was no longer present one year later. The absence of a clear
pathomechanism underlying focal amnesia lead us to consider this case as an
example of functional retrograde amnesia.
