Transient Global Amnesia Associated With Cardiac Arrhythmia and Digitalis Intoxication

Abstract

A 54-year-old woman with transient global amnesia (TGA) was found to have digitalisinduced bradyarrhythmia with atrioventricular dissociation. The amnesia cleared only upon resolution of the arrhythmia. Cardiac arrhythmia has been postulated as a cause, but TGA in the setting of cardiac arrhythmia has not been documented previously. Cardiac arrhythmia should be excluded in patients with TGA, and TGA, a syndrome diagnosed on clinical grounds alone, must be recognized as one possible manifestation of treatable, potentially serious cardiac or cerebrovascular disease.