A Case of Viral Encephalitis with Disproportionate Retrograde Amnesia

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 22(3); 2004 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 2004;22(3): 259-264.

역행성 기억장애를 주로 보인 바이러스성 뇌염 1예

이현아, 이형 조용원 임정근 나덕렬 이상도

계명대학교 의과대학 신경과학교실, 성균관대학교 의과대학 신경과학교실

A Case of Viral Encephalitis with Disproportionate Retrograde Amnesia

Hyon-Ah Yi

Department of Neurology, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu; Department of Neurology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine*, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

A 44-year-old man showed recurrent paroxysmal amnesic attacks following viral encephalitis which, despite antiepileptic treatment, developed into status epilepticus. Interestingly, the amnesic attacks mainly consisted of amnesia for retrograde events. After recovery from status, he showed a persistent amnesia which was characterized as disproportionate retrograde amnesia for the past 20 years. We attribute the amnesic attacks in the acute stage to a transient epileptic amnesia and the profound retrograde amnesia in the chronic stage to status- or infection-related focal brain damage. Key Words:Viral encephalitis, Retrograde amnesia, Epileptic amnesia