[Mnemonic performance in patients following surgery to treat an aneurysm affecting the anterior circulation of the brain].
BACKGROUND
Patients submitted to surgery to treat a brain aneurysm, who have suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage, sometimes present cognitive disorders that can affect their social, familial, academic or occupational relationships. Memory disorders are frequent, although other cognitive functions may also be affected.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research work was to study performance in logical verbal memory and visual-constructional memory in subjects following a surgical intervention (at least a year ago) to treat an aneurysm in the territory of the anterior circulation of the brain. We also wanted to analyse whether the location of the aneurysm in the brain had any effect on memory performance.


METHODS
We examined a sample of 24 adult subjects of both sexes, with no previous history of cognitive or psychiatric disorders, who had undergone surgical treatment of brain aneurysms in the middle cerebral, anterior communicating and posterior communicating arteries. Neuropsychological tests were performed to assess the general cognitive status, as well as logical verbal and visual-constructional memory.


RESULTS
79% of the patients present a general cognitive status within the range of what could be considered to be normal. In logical verbal memory, 92% present performances within the limits of the expected range of values and 83% did the same in visual-constructional memory. Depending on the location of the aneurysm, significant differences were only found in the delayed evocation of logical verbal material.


CONCLUSIONS
A year after the intervention, most of the patients present a pattern of normality in the general cognitive status, and in logical verbal and visual-constructional memory. Yet, in spite of the good neurological resolution, alterations to memory are still to be found, although less frequently. The anatomical location of the aneurysm in the brain affects performance in tasks involving delayed logical verbal memory.
Perea-Bartolomé
M V
MV
Departamento de Psicología y Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain. vperea@usal.es
Ladera-Fernández
V
V
Morales-Ramos
F
F
Pastor-Zapata
A
A
D000328:Adult; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery