AN UNUSUAL FORM OF MEMORY LOSS

Disturbance of memory is one of the commonest symptoms in the diagnost ic puzzles presented in late life. The presumption often made (and not infrequently ill-founded) by the subject or their carers is that Alzh eimer's disease is the cause. One possible reason for loss of memory, rare but important to identify because the outcome is benign, is trans ient global amnesia (TGA). The condition, first described over 30 year s ago [1] but which still evades adequate explanation, is illustrated by the following two cases.