Transient epileptic amnesia

Two patients who shared similar presenting clinical features of anterograde and retrograde autobiographical amnesia typical of transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) underwent prolonged video electroencephalogram (VEEG) monitoring and were found to have sleep-activated epileptiform activity and frequent subclinical bitemporal seizures predominantly during sleep. Case 1 is a 59-year-old woman whose presenting complaint was memory impairment. Over 18 months, she had three distinct 8-h-long episodes of confusion and disorientation with persistent anterograde and retrograde autobiographical amnesia...

RATIONALE: Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) is a phenomenon found in late onset epilepsy and in transient epileptic amnesia (TEA). Here we evaluated ALF in patients with focal epilepsies and limbic encephalitis (LE) in particular. METHODS: ALF was assessed in 36 patients with focal epilepsy and 154 healthy subjects using an extended version of the Verbal Learning and Memory Test (VLMT), with free recall after 30 min and again after one week. From these patients, 89% had temporal lobe epilepsy; 42% left-lateralized; 39% right; 19% bilateral; 17% were diagnosed with hippocampal sclerosis; 64% displayed features indicating LE; 52% with amygdala pathology, and 61% were antibody positive...

Forgetting has been researched for over a century. This literature highlighted how forgetting rates can vary dependent on factors in the design and method. Recent interest in forgetting revived with evidence suggesting that seizures experienced almost immediately after matched learning could accelerate forgetting. This was followed by a growth in forgetting studies in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), including a subset of those with transient epileptic amnesia (TEA). These patients have been described as expressing concerns about memory, yet often perform within 'normal' ranges on standard neuropsychological memory assessments...

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is an epileptic syndrome characterized by recurrent, brief episodes of amnesia. Patients with TEA often complain of interictal (between attacks) retention deficits, characterised by an 'evaporation' of memories for recent events over days to weeks. Clinical tests of anterograde memory often fail to corroborate these complaints as TEA patients commonly perform within the normal range after the standard 10-30-min delay period. Modified laboratory tests that include a 1-3 week delay period frequently reveal clear evidence of 'accelerated long-term forgetting' (ALF)...

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the sudden onset of an extraordinarily large reduction of anterograde and a somewhat milder reduction of retrograde episodic long-term memory. Additionally, executive functions are described as diminished. Although it is suggested that various factors, such as migraine, focal ischemia, venous flow abnormalities, and epileptic phenomena, are involved in the pathophysiology and differential diagnosis of TGA, the factors triggering the emergence of these lesions are still elusive...

OBJECTIVE: Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) occurs when newly learned information decays faster than normal over extended delays. It has been recognised most frequently in temporal lobe epilepsy, including Transient Epileptic Amnesia (TEA), but can also be drug-induced. Little is known about the evolution of ALF over time and its impacts upon other memory functions, such as autobiographical memory (ABM). Here we investigate the long-term outcome of ALF and ABM in a group of patients with TEA and a single case of baclofen-induced ALF...

OBJECTIVES: This research investigated forgetting rates of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) at brief and longer intervals. METHODS: The sample is formed by 5 patients with TLE and 10 healthy individuals. One of the patients received the diagnosis of transient epileptic amnesia (TEA). All patients underwent a standardized clinical protocol for diagnosis including a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. In addition, two experimental tasks were used to assess the forgetting rates at 4 intervals (30s, 10min, 1day, and 1week): a story task to evaluate verbal cued recall and a route task to assess visuospatial cued recall...

We encountered a female patient with late-onset temporal lobe epilepsy who presented with transient amnesia as the sole ictal manifestation, an accelerated rate of forgetting daily life events, and a retrograde memory deficit. We describe the memory function of the patient both before and after the administration of antiseizure medication. After the patient's seizures were controlled with antiseizure drugs, her neuropsychological memory performance scores showed improvement. We presumed that the disappearance of seizures was associated with a decrease in the accelerated rate of forgetting medication...

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Transient amnestic syndromes are fascinating clinical entities and there are several subtypes. Transient global amnesia (TGA) is characterised by sudden onset of anterograde amnesia with repetitive questioning, lasting less than 24 hours. The pathophysiology of TGA involves the medial temporal lobes and hippocampi. Episodes of TGA are thought to involve venous congestion with Valsalva-like activities, vascular or migrainous mechanisms. In contrast, transient epileptic amnesia manifests as brief and frequent episodes of amnesia due to seizure activity in the temporal lobes...

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a cryoprotective agent used in storage of frozen stem cells in stem cell transplantation. Central nervous system side effects of DMSO such as epileptic seizures, stroke, transient global amnesia, and temporary leucoencephalopathy are rarely seen. Here, we report a pediatric patient who developed seizures after DMSO-cryopreserved stem cell infusion and whose magnetic resonance imaging of the brain demonstrated parietal and occipital focal cortical T2-signal intensity increase. DMSO toxicity should be kept in mind in patients who received cryopreserved stem cell infusion and magnetic resonance imaging may be helpful in differential diagnosis of central nervous system involvement...

OBJECTIVE: While olfactory hallucinations are relatively rare in epilepsy, a high prevalence (up to 42%) has been reported in one form - Transient Epileptic Amnesia (TEA). TEA is characterized by recurring amnestic seizures and is commonly associated with persistent interictal memory deficits. Despite reports of changes in smell, olfactory ability has not been objectively assessed in this group. The aim of this study was to measure olfactory ability in patients with TEA and explore whether olfactory symptoms relate to other clinical variables...

The epileptic syndromes, notably the temporal lobe epilepsy, frequently include memory disturbances. These memory disturbances may occur during seizures, i.e. ictal memory disturbances, or between seizures, i.e. interictal memory disturbances. Two atypical clinical epileptic syndromes should be pointed out in the elderly: the transient epileptic amnesia and the epileptic pseudodementia. Both represent potentially reversible memory disturbances and have a treatment based on antiepileptic drugs. Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a subtype of medial temporal lobe epilepsy with late onset...

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a sub-type of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, with amnesic seizures. TEA is characterized by recurrent episodes of amnesia. Diagnostic criteria are available for TEA, and these memory disturbances should not be misdiagnosed with transient global amnesia. The neuropsychological evaluation is normal, however, autobiographical memory impairment is present in 70% of the cases and accelerated long term forgetting in 44%. When a patient complains of memory disturbances, especially autobiographical memory, TEA must be considered especially if there was an amnesic episode and symptoms that suggest temporal epilepsia...

PURPOSE: Transient Epileptic Amnesia (TEA) is a form of adult onset temporal lobe epilepsy characterised by ictal amnesia. The amnesic seizures are often accompanied by interical memory disturbance, involving autobiographical amnesia and accelerated long-term forgetting. Short-term follow-up studies suggest a relatively stable cognitive profile once treated, but recent case reports raise concerns regarding the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). The current study reports clinical and cognitive outcome in TEA patients over a 20-year period...

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Neurological manifestations or disorders associated with the central nervous system are among the most common and important clinical characteristics of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Although in the most recently updated (2006) APS classification criteria, the neurological manifestations encompass only transient ischemic attack and stroke, diverse 'non-criteria' neurological disorders or manifestations (i.e., headache, migraine, bipolar disorder, transverse myelitis, dementia, chorea, epileptic seizures, multiple sclerosis, psychosis, cognitive impairment, Tourette's syndrome, parkinsonism, dystonia, transient global amnesia, obsessive compulsive disorder and leukoencephalopathy) have been observed in APS patients...

Epilepsy with the main symptom of amnesia is known as transient epileptic amnesia (TEA). Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common form of neurodegenerative dementia. The concept that Lewy body disease includes Parkinson's disease with dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies was proposed in the 2005 revision of the Clinical Diagnostic Criteria. Here, we describe a woman with cognitive impairment, olfactory dysfunction, and reduced (123) I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine uptake on myocardial scintigraphy...

A subtle behavioural or cognitive manifestation of epilepsy can be defined in two ways. First, epileptiform discharges not presenting as obvious seizures may nevertheless affect cognition and/or behaviour. Second, the actual seizures may be obvious but the way they affect cognition or behaviour may not be. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that the epileptiform discharges in benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes can affect behaviour and cognition. The focal discharges in other forms of epilepsy can also be associated with behavioural change...

Transient amnesia is one of common clinical phenomenon of epilepsy that are encountered by physicians. The amnestic attacks are often associated with persistent memory disturbances. Epilepsy is common among the elderly, with amnesia as a common symptom and convulsions relatively uncommon. Therefore, amnesia due to epilepsy can easily be misdiagnosed as dementia. The term 'transient epileptic amnesia (TEA)' was introduced in the early 1990s by Kapur, who highlighted that amnestic attacks caused by epilepsy can be similar to those occurring in 'transient global amnesia', but are distinguished by features brevity and recurrence...