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Rare disease
Case report
Natural recovery from long-lasting generalised dissociative amnesia and of cerebral blood flow
  1. Nobuyuki Mitsui,
  2. Yuka Oyanagi,
  3. Yuki Kako and
  4. Ichiro Kusumi
  1. Psychiatry, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
  1. Correspondence to Dr Nobuyuki Mitsui; nmitsui{at}med.hokudai.ac.jp

Abstract

A 40-year-old man presented with generalised dissociative amnesia. At 2 weeks after onset, N-isopropyl-[123I] p-iodoamphetamine-single-photon emission CT imaging of the brain revealed hypoperfusion in the right medial temporal area. Organic brain damage was ruled out. His inability to recall information was attributed to psychological stress related to his employment. Consistent with this diagnosis, his generalised dissociative amnesia lasted 6 years and 10 months; however, he recovered from amnesia naturally on starting a new job. Perfusion of his right medial temporal area also returned to normal levels. Longitudinal reports for generalised dissociative amnesia with natural recovery are exceedingly rare. It is important to confirm whether dissociative amnesia and cerebral blood flow recover in parallel, even in cases where dissociative amnesia is long-lasting.

  • anxiety disorders (including OCD and PTSD)
  • neuroimaging
  • memory disorders (psychiatry)
  • mood disorders (including depression)
  • suicide (psychiatry)

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2019-231270

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @nobmit

    • Contributors Conceptualisation; NM, YO, YK and IK. Data curation; NM and YO Supervision; YK, and IK. Writing an original draft; NM. Final approval; NM, YO, YK and IK.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.