Transient Global Amnesia Associated with Acute Bacterial Endocarditis; a Case Report

Background and Aim: Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a sudden loss of memory without definite etiology. Some cardiac conditions like myocardial infarction, mitral valve prolapse, takotsubo syndrome, and arrhythmias have been described in the literature as offenders. To our knowledge, there is no report of an association between TGA and endocarditis or even septicemia. Case Report: The patient was a ۵۲-year-old man with a history of hypertension and aortic valve surgery which was presented to the emergency department with TGA. On brain CT scan and MRI there was not any pathological finding and EEG has revealed normal features without any epileptiform discharge. During evaluations, the diagnosis of acute bacterial endocarditis has established by the presence of positive blood culture and vegetation on the aortic valve in trans-esophageal echocardiography. At ۶ months follow-up, and after receiving appropriate antibiotic therapy and cardiac surgery, he was symptom-free at all.  Conclusion: Association between TGA and cardiovascular disorders like myocardial infarction and takotsubo syndrome has been described. Neurological complications occur in about one-fourth of patients with infective endocarditis, but there is not any report of the association between TGA and acute bacterial endocarditis. Cardiovascular disorder studies are just limited to case reports without any clarification of mechanism and pathophysiology.

Keywords:

Amnesia , Bacteria , Endocarditis , Transient global