Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging in transient global amnesia.

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a well known clinical entity characterized by anterograde memory disturbance of sudden onset that lasts 1 to 24 hours. Orientation in space and time is impaired while consciousness remains undisturbed . TGA may refer to a single expression of several physiopathological phenomena. Conceptually, cerebral ischemia, epileptic discharge, and migraine constitute the main pathogenic hypothesis. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has become a powerful tool in the evaluation of patients with suspected stroke owing to its high sensitivity and specificity, even for small areas of acute ischemia. Consequently, this method has also been applied to TGA to gain further insights into the ischemic hypothesis of this condition. We report a patient with a typical TGA presentation and MRI findings suggestive of an ischemic insult. We further discuss the ischemic hypothesis of TGA.