transient epileptic amnesia
Last reviewed 01/2018
Patients with transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) present with a combination of anterograde and retrograde amnesia, confusion and repeated questioning which is similar to transient global amnesia (TGA) (1).
Patients with TEA:
- are more often male than female
- are usually more than 60 yr old
- have a history of cardiovascular disease in half of cases
- have a high recurrence rate (2):
- 3 attacks per year for TEA
- contrast this with a 3% annual recurrence for TGA
- have patchy anterograde amnesia such that they may retrospectively recognise the attacks
The amnestic attack respond to standard anti-epileptic therapy.
Reference:
- 1) Corridan, BJ, et al. (2001). A case of sleeping and forgetting. BMJ 357, 524.
- 2) Zenman, A, Hodges, JR. (2000). In: Berrios, G, Hodges, JR eds. Memory disorders in psychiatric practice. Camb Univ Press. p187-203.