Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2025 May 18;17(5):e84357.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.84357. eCollection 2025 May.

Transient Global Amnesia Following Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography

Maryam Hanser  1 , Diana Boyrazyan  1 , Charisse N Chih  2 , Antonio K Liu  3   4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Transient Global Amnesia Following Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography

Maryam Hanser et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Transient global amnesia is an uncommon neurological phenomenon characterized by sudden-onset anterograde amnesia, often accompanied by repetitive questioning and transient cognitive dysfunction, which resolves completely within 24 hours. While self-limiting, this can cause significant distress to both patients and their families, particularly when it arises in the context of medical interventions. Dobutamine stress echocardiography, a widely employed non-invasive diagnostic modality for assessing myocardial ischemia, valvular pathology, and left ventricular function, is generally regarded as safe and well-tolerated. There are only a few cases of transient global amnesia after dobutamine stress echocardiography. Our case report may align with the current belief that the adrenergic and hemodynamic stress induced by dobutamine stress echocardiography can occasionally elicit transient global amnesia in predisposed patients, challenging its reputation as a low-risk diagnostic procedure.

Keywords: adrenergic stress; dobutamine stress echocardiography; hippocampal dysfunction; hippocampal hypoperfusion; transient global amnesia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Loma Linda University School of Medicine issued approval IRB# 5250219. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Negative MRI diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequence at the level of mesial temporal lobes.
No hippocampal abnormality noted. Study done 18 hours after symptom onset.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Transient global amnesia. Ropper AH. N Engl J Med. 2023;388:635–640. - PubMed
    1. The aetiology of transient global amnesia. A case-control study of 114 cases with prospective follow-up. Hodges JR, Warlow CP. Brain. 1990;113 ( Pt 3):639–657. - PubMed
    1. Transient global amnesia: 7 Tesla MRI reveals more hippocampal lesions with diffusion restriction compared to 1.5 and 3 Tesla MRI. Unsgård RG, Doan TP, Nordlid KK, Kvistad KA, Goa PE, Berntsen EM. Neuroradiology. 2022;64:2217–2226. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dobutamine stress echocardiography. Bach D, Armstrong W. Am J Cardiol. 1992;69:90–96. - PubMed
    1. Transient global amnesia after dobutamine--atropine stress echocardiography. Saura D, Peñafiel P, Morales A, Albert L, Martínez F, de la Morena G, Valdés-Chávarri M. Eur J Echocardiogr. 2008;9:567–568. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources