Abstract
Cerebrovascular disease is one of the most common symptoms associated with anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) and lupus anticoagulant (LA), usually in the form of ischemic stroke. However, many other neurologic disorders have been described in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome or ACA. So far, the precise relation between the presence of antibodies and the development of the disease in many of these cases remain unknown. Transient global amnesia (TGA) is an infrequent neurologic disturbance whose precise pathophysiology is not known. It is characterized by a sudden inability to acquire new information, usually lasting no more than 12 h, and it is not accompanied by any other focal neurological signs or symptoms. We report a patient with TGA with persistent and high levels of ACA and LA and suggest that in patients with TGA, investigation of the possible presence of ACA and/or LA may be warranted because a higher prevalence of TGA in the patients with antiphospholipidic syndrome with respect to the general population may lead to further insights into pathogenesis of neurologic disease associated with antiphospholipidic antibodies.
References
Pantoni L, Lamassa M, Inzitari D (2000) Transient global amnesia: a review emphasizing pathogenic aspects. Acta Neurol Scand 102:275–283
Hughes GRV (1983) Thrombosis, abortion, cerebral disease and the lupus anticoagulant. Br Med J 287:1088–1089
Wilson WA, Gharavi AE, Koike T, Lockshin MD, Branch DW, Piette JC, Brey R, Derksen R, Harris EN, Hughes GR, Triplett DA, Khamashta MA (1999) International consensus statement on preliminary classification criteria for definite antiphospholipid syndrome: report of an international workshop. Arthritis Rheum 42:1309–1311
Olesen J, Jorgensen MB (1986) Leao's spreading depression in the hippocampus explains transient global amnesia. A hypothesis. Acta Neurol Scand 73:219–220
Rowan AJ, Protass LM (1979) Transient global amnesia: clinical and electroencephalographic findings in 10 cases. Neurology 29:869–872
Ross RT (1983) Transient tumor attacks. Arch Neurol 40:633–636
Zorzon M, Antonutti L, Mase G, Biasutti E, Vitrani B, Cazzato G (1995) Transient global amnesia and transient ischemic attack. Natural history, vascular risk factors, and associated conditions. Stroke 26:1536–1542
Montalban J, Arboix A, Staub H, Barquinero J, Marti-Vilalta J, Codina A, Hughes GR (1989) Transient global amnesia and antiphospholipid antibodies. Clin Exp Rheumatol 7:85–87
Cervera R, Piette JC, Font J, Khamashta MA, Shoenfeld Y, Camps MT, Jacobsen S, Lakos G, Tincani A, Kontopoulou-Griva I, Galeazzi M, Meroni PL, Derksen RH, de Groot PG, Gromnica-Ihle E, Baleva M, Mosca M, Bombardieri S, Houssiau F, Gris JC, Quere I, Hachulla E, Vasconcelos C, Roch B, Fernandez-Nebro A, Boffa MC, Hughes GR, Ingelmo M, Euro-Phospholipid Project Group (2002) Antiphospholipid syndrome: clinical and immunologic manifestations and patterns of disease expression in a cohort of 1,000 patients. Arthritis Rheum 46:1019–1027
Pantoni L, Lamassa M, Inzitari D (2000) Transient global amnesia: a review emphasizing pathogenic aspects. Acta Neurol Scand 102:275–283
Melo TP, Ferro JM, Ferro H (1992) Transient global amnesia. A case control study. Brain 115:261–270
Jia J, Wang L, Yin L, Tang H (2002) Contrast study on cognitive function with MRI and positron emission tomography imaging in transient global amnesia. Chin Med J (Engl) 115(9):1321–1323
Leao AAP (1944) Spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex. J Neurophysiol 7:359–390
Sanchez-del-Rio M, Reuter U (2004) Migraine aura: new information on underlying mechanisms. Curr Opin Neurol 17:289–293
Hughes GR, Harris NN, Gharavi AE (1986) The anticardiolipin syndrome. J Rheumatol 13:486–489
Shoenfeld Y, Nahum A, Korczyn AD, Dano M, Rabinowitz R, Beilin O, Pick CG, Leider-Trejo L, Kalashnikova L, Blank M, Chapman J (2003) Neuronal-binding antibodies from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome induce cognitive deficits following intrathecal passive transfer. Lupus 12:436–442
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ortego-Centeno, N., Callejas-Rubio, J.L., Fernández, M.G. et al. Transient global amnesia in a patient with high and persistent levels of antiphospholipid antibodies. Clin Rheumatol 25, 407–408 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-005-0012-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-005-0012-5