Stroke as a Cause of TGA? Narrative Review and Hypothesis - Abstract
The pathogenesis of transient global amnesia (TGA) remains unknown. Stroke has always been considered a possible cause because of the acute onset and focal nature of the condition. Whilst no evidence, clinical or neuroradiological, has been found to establish a diagnosis of stroke in the majority of TGA cases, occasional reports document radiological evidence of stroke. The purpose of this narrative review is to collate these disparate reports. These have presented TGA in association with lesions described as stroke, infarction or acute ischaemia in various locations related to Papez circuit: medial temporal lobe, hippocampus, fornix, thalamus, cingulate gyrus or bundle, striatum (caudate and putamen), corpus callosum, and frontal lobe. In light of these reports, a tentative hypothesis of TGA pathogenesis is suggested.