Medical Procedure-Related Transient Global Amnesia

Background: Transient global amnesia (TGA) is an interesting clinical syndrome characterized by sudden memory loss for recent events and an inability to retain new memories usually lasting several hours and recovering spontaneously. We conducted a literature search of medical procedure-related TGA and its predisposing conditions.

Methods: We performed PubMed searches using the keyword "transient global amnesia" combined with "procedure," "test," "therapy," or various other individual medical procedures. In addition, we described 2 cases of gastroscopy-related TGA.

Results: Eighty-nine patients with medical procedure-related TGA in 49 articles were summarized. The most common procedure was cerebral angiography (n = 45), followed by coronary angiography (n = 10) and general anesthesia (n = 9). After categorization, neurological procedures were most common (n = 46, 51.7%), followed by cardiac (n = 17, 19.1%), anesthetic (n = 11, 12.4%), gastrointestinal (n = 4, 4.5%), and pulmonary (n = 2, 2.2%) procedures.

Conclusions: Diverse cases of medical procedure-related TGA have been reported in the literature. Valsalva-associated activities, emotional stress with anxiety, and acute pain were predisposing conditions. An understanding of medical procedure-related TGA may be important for clinicians who perform such medical procedures.