ABSTRACT

Temporary amnesia following coronary angiography (CAG) has been described in the literature. In this paper, a case was presented with an acute isolated amnesia developed after CAG and right occipital infarct in cerebral imaging. Fifty-eight year-old right-handed male patient was admitted to our hospital with the complaint of chest pain at rest. CAG was performed on the patient with the diagnosis of stable angina pectoris. During the procedure, intra-arterial iodiksanol (non-ionic, dimeric) was used as a contrast medium at a dose of 300 cc. The patient developed amnesia in five minute after the procedure. Neurological examination revealed no abnormality except the isolated partial retrograde amnesia. There was no hemodynamic instability related to the procedure and / or aberrant blood parameters that could explain the amnesia. The patient underwent cerebral imaging because he had vascular risk factors. Brain and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging displayed an acute infarction in the right occipital lobe. The patient’s amnesia was completely improved in four hours after CAG. Right occipital infarction was persisted in cerebral imaging that was repeated after a week and thus an effect related to contrast medium was excluded. The amnesia in our case was considered as an embolic event secondary to arterial vasospasm and/or catheter manipulation. Here in, it is emphasized that cerebral imaging should be performed in the post-angiographic amnesic patients, those especially carrying vascular risk factors, in whom the etiology was mostly attributed to transient neurotoxic effect induced by the contrast agent without a detailed examination.