Neuropsychological follow-up of patients operated for aneurysms of anterior communicating artery.
The neuropsychological outcome of 43 patients operated for ACoA aneurysms was assessed with a battery of 15 tests, tapping a wide spectrum of cognitive abilities. As a group ACoA aneurysms patients were impaired on 8 tests, including the three assessing memory. When however, patients falling below the cut-off point determined in normal controls were considered, 42% of the sample was unimpaired and only 35% fell on two or more tests. The analysis of single cases showed that memory was often affected, but short-term memory even more than long-term memory. In addition to the well known memory disorder, the patients showed a wide range of neuropsychological defects, including language and space functions. The hypotheses that could account for this broad-based neuropsychological impairment are discussed.
Laiacona
M
M
Clinic for Nervous Diseases, Milan University, San Paolo Hospital.
De Santis
A
A
Barbarotto
R
R
Basso
A
A
Spagnoli
D
D
Capitani
E
E
D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014706:Verbal Learning