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Recovery of memory and executive function following anterior communicating artery aneurysm rupture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2009

Mark D'Esposito ,
Michael P. Alexander ,
Richard Fischer ,
Regina Mcglinchey-Berroth  and
Margaret O'connor
Mark D'Esposito
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Michael P. Alexander
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine and Stroke Rehabilitation Program, Braintree Hospital, Braintree, MA 02185
Richard Fischer
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychology, New England Sinai Hospital, Stoughton, MA and Department of Neurology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02702
Regina Mcglinchey-Berroth
Affiliation:
GRECC, West Roxbury VA Medical Center, West Roxbury, MA and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02132 Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02215
Margaret O'connor
Affiliation:
Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02215
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Abstract

We studied the recovery of memory and executive function in 10 patients following anterior communicating artery aneurysm (ACoA) rupture and repair. Patients were tested at 2 consecutive points in time following surgery (approximately at 2 and 3 months). At the first testing, the patients divided into 2 groups based on the severity of impairment on executive measures. Both groups had severe anterograde amnesia, but only patients with severe executive impairments had retrograde amnesia with a temporal gradient. At second testing, both groups had persistent severe anterograde amnesia. The dysexecutive group showed significant improvement in executive deficits and in retrograde amnesia, with attenuation of the temporal gradient. Patients with more severe executive impairments had more extensive bilateral frontal lesions than other patients. These results suggest that the cognitive profile following ACoA rupture changes with time. Time postonset following aneurysm rupture and lesion site are both critical for defining the neuropsychological profile, and determining the underlying cognitive mechanisms in this neurological disorder. (JINS, 1996, 2, 565–570.)

Keywords

Anterior communicating artery aneurysmAmnesiaExecutive functionRecovery
Type
Case Study
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 2 , Issue 6 , November 1996 , pp. 565 - 570
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 1996

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