Primary progressive aphasia and transient global amnesia.

OBJECTIVE

To describe 3 patients with a history of transient global amnesia (TGA) who developed primary progressive aphasia (PPA).

DESIGN

Case series.

SETTING

Tertiary care center.

PATIENTS: The study included 3 patients who presented to the neurology clinic with language complaints.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Presence of recurrent TGA and PPA.

RESULTS

Three patients with a history of TGA were subsequently diagnosed as having PPA. All patients had recurrent attacks of TGA. The diagnoses of PPA were supported by speech pathology evaluations, neuropsychometric testing results, and imaging findings. Positron emission tomography revealed left posterior frontal hypometabolism in 1 patient and predominantly left temporal parietal hypometabolism in 1 patient, while single-photon emission computed tomography demonstrated decreased perfusion in the anterior left temporal and frontal lobes in the third patient.

CONCLUSION

There may be a relationship between recurrent TGA and the development of PPA.