Amnesia syndrome following left anterior thalamic infarction; with intrahemispheric and crossed cerebro-cerebellar diaschisis on brain SPECT

ABSTRACT

We report a 61-year-old right-handed man developing disturbance of memory after a discrete thalamic infarction. Neuropsychological assessment revealed deficits in memory with retrograde and anterograde components, especially for verbal material. Brain MRI showed a left anterior thalamic infarction with normal angiographic findings. Despite the small lesion in the thalamus, he showed prolonged memory disturbance and a Brain SPECT image revealed decreased uptake in the ipsilateral fronto-temporo-parietal cortex and contralateral cerebellum. This diaschisis, a phenomenon caused by disconnection of the neural pathway helped us to evaluate the functional state of the patient and this imaging technique was valuable for obtaining to get more information for the evaluation of the neurological state and neuronal connections. In conclusion our findings correspond well with the understanding of amnesia as a disconnection syndrome because of the evidence of diaschisis on the Brain SPECT image.